Salvation And Love
by TurtlesBeCool
Summary: Annas childhood was tough, being one of 10 kids experimented on was not a fun ordeal, neither was the next 4 years after her escape. But when she saw the angel that once saved her she was determined that the world was finally letting her have what she always wanted, Salvation and Love. But nothing is ever that easy is it? M for violence, maybe smut. Elsanna will be present. AU-ish
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

* * *

A man sat in a hall, an eerie glow, originating from the few torches present, filling every nook and cranny. He seemed to sit there for an eternity, dreading the sight awaiting him behind the door. He had been here every day for the last two months. Yet it was still as terrifying as the first day, and every day following that, up until today. The only sound in the hall was the agony and pain filled screams from behind the door next to him. Now the man had heard such sounds on the battlefield, being a veteran soldier and a man gifted in healing magic he had treated many men returning with wounds from battle. But the screams in the hall wasn't from a grown man, these screams were those of an eleven year old girl. The man didn't want to be here, but he had no choice. The King himself had commanded him to do it. So he came here, every night, for two months, to heal a child the same age as his daughter and son. He didn't want to be here at all, and soon he didn't have to be.

The night before he had cracked and told his wife about the kid, the dark magic they performed on her, the experiments, everything. Her eyes had flowed with tears at every word he spoke. He believed she would leave him, take the kids and run. But she didn't, she told him to save the girl, that it was the only way he would be able to redeem himself. Running away would just leave the girl in the hands of another healer. No, he was to go back and get the girl out of there, they would take her north, the kids would understand when they got older. His wife just couldn't bring herself to leave the poor girl.

So he sat there next to the door, waiting. That day he had come up with a plan that could very well go wrong. But his wife had insisted, he couldn't convince her otherwise. Not that he tried, his guilt weighed on him too much. When the door clicked open and four hooded men stepped out, the last one gesturing for the man to enter. He steeled himself, nodded once and walked through the door. Yep, this was the same room he had seen too many times. A child strapped to a table in the middle of the room. Burn marks and cuts all over her body, and runes inscribed on her back. She wasn't crying now, her eyes were empty. There was no personality, no emotion. But the man was here to save her, he turned to lock the door behind him. Once he felt the click he walked to the girl and started healing her wounds. The burns first, they were inflicted by magic, making them easier to heal. Then the cuts. The runes was sadly not possible to remove, they weren't wounds, they were sealing spells from what he could gather. What they kept sealed he didn't know, and for now that wasn't his biggest problem.

He grabbed a steel rod hidden beneath his coat, pried it in the fastenings on the table that held the chains. With his build they snapped easily, but the girl still didn't move from the table. Tears started running down his face, he placed his hand on her cheek. She blinked, once, twice, and focused on the man. A faint glimmer of life in her eyes was his reward. Those cold eyes the girl had was replaced with innocent scared ones. Silently crying the girl sat up and waited a minute to let the tears dry up. She got ready to jump down from the table, and the man saw a flicker in her eyes as she hit the ground.

"I'm so sorry...I'm Sorry for everything" he barely got out through the lump in his throat.

"Don't be" the girl looked at him quizzically, "You did what you were told to do, and you made the pain bearable" she pointed to her head, "the headaches can't be fixed though" she said it like it was something he should know.

"I...umm...uuh..." He didn't believe what was going on here, the fragile little girl that had cried just a minute ago now stood in front of him. A shimmering dark purple glow in her eyes, he had only read about such things, but from the reports it was rare, and dangerous.

"D-Do you kn-know w-what they did t-to you?" he stammered in disbelief.

"Some, during fights, the men would talk from above. I would listen in on them when it wasn't my turn to fight, they were talking about some girl up north and ice. And about something, catalyst I believe they said. They talked about us like we were guinea pigs" the girl tried remembering the times she had been able to hear what they were saying, but her mind seemed foggy and the headache didn't help her memory.

The man straightened himself and took an extra look at her before speaking, "So I gather that you realize what I am doing right? You seem to be more mature than your average kid" if this was the case getting out would be a lot easier.

"I don't know, I haven't met any other kids besides the ones down here. There were ten of us, but now only three is left. Five died in the arena and two from the experiments" she talked about her dead 'friends' with a blank stare on her face.

His stomach twisted and turned, 'What did they do down here? With a face devoid of emotion she just told me seven of her friends died down here' he forced down the nausea building in his stomach with a deep breath.

"So I have plan to get us out but it's risky, I will probably get executed, and I don't wanna know what they are going to do to you if we're caught. But I have a vial here with a liquid that will make you seem dead. Then I will get you out of here" he spoke hastily, healing the girl never took this long. They didn't have much time left.

"Why are you doing this?" the girl asked in confusion.

"I couldn't keep doing it, I wanted to run, leave you here, but my wife wouldn't leave before I got you out. She wants to take you with us, up north. But now I know there are two others down here, how am I supposed to get them out to?" the last sentence more spoken to himself than the girl.

"You don't. Now. Give the vial here" she took the vial from his hands, popped it open "it can't be worse than this right? Oh and by the way I'm Anna" and with that she emptied the little glass cylinder.

The man looked at the girl drinking the potion, before she slowly lost the strength to stand, slumping down on the floor and stopped moving.

"I'm Robert nice to finally meet you Anna.. Here we go" she heard and felt arms lifting her in the air, then everything was dark.

Meanwhile up north a secret meeting was held, to discuss some disturbing rumors spreading in their countries. Sitting around the table was King Agnarr and Queen Iduna of Arendelle. King Frederic and Queen Arianna of Corona. King Fergus and Queen Elinor of DunBroch and all their respective spymasters.

"I thank you all for gathering on such short notice" Queen Arianna said, breaking the silence "I believe you have all been informed about the ongoings in the south?" not asking anyone in particular.

"Yes, from what our spies have gathered they are trying to...create...hybrids like Elsa and Rapunzel" Agnarr answered with a sour taste in has mouth.

"I don't get why DunBroch have to be here, Merida doesn't have magic like your daughters. I'm not saying I don't appreciate the trust you show by having us here. But what can we add to this discussion that will help?" Fergus asked in a polite manner his wife hadn't seen before.

"If what we have heard is true then it will be of utmost importance to be ready for an attack from the south, and if they decide to attack Corona and Arendelle your kingdom would be surrounded, heavily outnumbered and the last kingdom in the way of taking over the north completely, you need to be here to know what is going on and to protect your people" Frederic added in a respectful tone.

"I suppose that makes sense" Fergus replied and looked down at the letter in front of him.

Everyone followed suit, looking at the letters in front of them, Agnarr read his over once more.

* * *

 **Your Majesties  
** **It has come to our attention that the King in the south have heard about the princess.  
** **The rumors amongst the guards seem to be getting more detailed and more true by the day.  
** **The King is trying to create children that can use magic without a catalyst like the princess.  
** **So far it seems to have been effortless, but new rumors is what prompted this letter.  
** **The most recent batch of kids have shown promise, and they are getting trained like a military unit.**

 **Prepare for anything.**

 **John.**

* * *

"We need to prepare for the worst outcome in this, bolster your Vanguards, if he is going to recreate a child with powers like Elsa we are going to need soldiers that can fight against magic" Agnarr knew this was a sudden call, but they all seemed to agree with him, slowly nodding at the idea he presented.

"I agree, magic has been used for domestic needs for a long time now, but recent events show that the magic we know of is evolving. Reports about people with powerful innate magic abilities are increasing, war as we know it will change, and so will our armies" Arianna added to Agnarrs statement.

"I have to ask... If they succeed with their project... If it's true that is... How do we go about training these new magic-wielding soldiers?" Fergus asked curiously.

"Well it's not going to be easy, but I suggest we start with testing our own guards. Figure out which ones show an affinity for magic, and then take it from there" all eyes focused on Frederic.

"Trial and error? How is that better than what the south does?" His wife spoke up in surprise.

"We would of course let them have the choice, we will be able to find Scholars and Experts in each area of magic. Situate them in schools, and let them handle the teaching of magic. People will be informed about a new school system and that magic will be taught to those who are willing, they will then be informed about the intention and given a final choice in staying or leaving" Frederic paused a second to take a breath, "And they will be asked to keep it quiet until we figure out if the threat is real, telling them we will announce it publicly if war really is unavoidable" Frederic was always quick to find solutions, not all of them equally good.

But no one seemed to have any better ideas, so they unanimously agreed with the King of Corona.

* * *

Two five year old princess' shows incredible magic of ice and healing without the use of a catalyst. As if it was a rule, every mage, sorceress and whatever they called themselves had one. A ring, a necklace or a trinket of any kind. They allowed a person to tap into their magic, but not everyone was born with that talent. It was like singing, some people was born with voices that matched an angels, others, not so much.

Some people could use magic, others couldn't. At first it had created a rift between magically inclined people and the rest of the population, but it had been so many years since magic was discovered. It was no longer an 'unfair' advantage, seeing as pretty much everyone could use magic for menial tasks. Lighting a fireplace, watering the garden or even creating temporary lights during the night.

Using magic for combat had never been done before, but now it seemed like there was no option. Because of a king in the south who seeked power over the elements. It was rare to see mages without catalysts, but they had been popping up more and more across the world, during the last two decades. Only it wasn't happening in the south, and that drove the king mad, he kept having children, all of them showed scarce magic reserves and not a single one was showing signs of being a hybrid. It drove him insane. If fate didn't give him what he wanted, then he would create his own fate.

* * *

 **Authors notes: Hello reader, this idea sprang from me watching to many movies with superpowers in it, and looking after my kid sister for a couple of days. Frozen was of course her go to movie and I wanted to write something new, so here we are. This is just the prologue and if the reviews are good, and people like it enough I'll continue uploading the chapters, if people don't like it I will probably still update but at a slower rate. Thanks for spending your time reading my work and enjoy if you decide to continue reading :)**

 **EDIT: Spell checked. Nothing else has been changed.**

 **Love from Mr. Turtle.**


	2. Chapter 1

Robert stood up, carrying the unconscious girl in his arms. His fur cloak wrapped around her tightly, even the winters in the south were harsh, the cold seemed to find its way to even the warmest countries. When he was at the door and twisted the round handle to unlock the door he stopped, he forgot to put on his necklace. Just in case.

He rummaged around in his pants for a few seconds and fished out a beautiful emerald stone, wrapped in dirtied silver that spun around it like a snake, ending in a smudged silver chain with a worn clasp. He really needed to fix it before it broke completely.

Kneeling down to free the hand that held Anna's unconscious body to put it on. The silence which was only interrupted by his own breathing was welcome. The screams he had heard in the hall so many times before haunted him. He was never a bad man, he had always followed the kings orders, his loyalty had never wavered. Until two months ago.

At first he thought that the kings plan was, at best, understandable. But as time went on, and with every day he saw that red hair splayed out on the table, his loyalty was ever so slightly pushed to the side, the protective instinct a father should feel for his kids filled his thoughts every day. And finally his loyalty disappeared entirely. A week ago he lost the last drop of respect he had for his king, when he saw him toss a maid out on the street, with nothing but her nightgown, for spilling water on his shoes. He had finally lost his mind in search for whatever it was he was looking for.

Robert steeled himself for what could end up as the toughest day of his life, and twisted the handle. The hall was empty, torches still lit, and the chair still vacant. Not that he was expecting anyone to be there. As he moved through the damp hallways en route to the exit that lead to the mansion above ground, he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. First thought was to bolt, run as fast as he could. Not an option. Second thought, act heartbroken, luckily he had pretty good acting skills and he let his eyes tear up enough to make them glassy, and turned his head toward the person.

"Where are you going with that girl?" the hooded figure didn't seem to hold any malice or bad intent in his words, no, it sounded like he had just asked him about the weather.

"She died, I'm going to bury her, as a priest I feel obligated to give her a proper burial" Robert replied, in the most convincing manner he could, not trying to give away his intentions.

"Hmm, let me see if her body is stable enough to be moved out of here".

Before Robert had any time to reply with disagreement, the unknown man had produced a needle and pricked his thumb, smearing the tiny amount of blood over the tips of his fingers and held his hand out towards the girl, never touching her. He mumble some form of enchant or spell, Robert didn't see or feel anything, but the mans calm demeanor had disappeared and it was replace with an almost smug expression.

"She isn't really dead is she?" he said looking directly at Robert. He had hoped no one would notice, or at least not this early on in his escape. He still had to go through the mansions foyer located above them before he would be outside and could get away.

The man caught him by surprise when he released a sigh and spoke up, "I can understand why you would do it... But I have to warn you, if the king finds out you will be hunted for the rest of your life"

"Then let me ask you this, why are you not running to him right now and telling him?" Robert couldn't come up with a reason for the mans warning so instead he asked.

"Because that girl," he pointed at Anna, "is going to be the first artificial hybrid that doesn't die as soon as she, how shoud I put it, awaken perhaps. And I would like to see how her powers are going to evolve... So my proposal is, I come with you and observe her until I have enough information about her development to give myself the very same powers she has" he chuckled a bit.

"W-what..." Robert had no idea what to say about such a statement.

"Confused huh.. Well let me tell you something that might change your mind," he leaned closer "my family is dead because of the king, I've been waiting for a chance to get my revenge, and she's the key to my success" he almost sneered.

Robert relented, "Fine then help me escape." he didn't ask, he commanded, the man tilted his head to the side, and then nodded, "Follow me then, I know how we can get out of here".

Robert followed the man through a couple of halls until they reached a door at the end of the hall, inside was barrels upon barrels. The smell of oil and something else was almost to strong for Robert to stomach, he wasn't normally squeamish being a war veteran used to smelling burnt flesh and rotting corpses, it probably had to do with being underground and not having fresh air run through the dungeon-like environment. The man stood in front of the barrels, again he poked a tiny hole in his finger and held it up against one of the barrels closest to the entrance, again he spoke a short sentence and turned to Robert.

"There, now we just need to get back to the surface, and avoid the west wing of the mansion. Pretty soon it won't be there anymore, along with the guards living quarters. I hadn't planned on doing it this soon, but you got to grab the opportunities when they present themselves." he grinned.

Both men turned and made their way towards the stairs leading up to the mansion, a loud explosion was heard, the heat from the explosion made its way through the halls and even to the men who was now halfway up the stairs, ready to exploit the confusion the spectacle would have produced.

"Shit, that went off faster than I expected, let us hurry".

But as soon as they opened the door, three guards and an elderly man was standing, looking as if they knew something was up, even with the fire that licked its way across the ceiling turning the otherwise pristine white paint dark and blistery.

The old man was the first one to speak, "Well well, Jonas, you didn't really believe your little plan was going to succeed did you? We have mages here that can read your minds. We knew about this escape before you even carried it out, the explosion wasn't expected this soon, so you did manage to kill off most of the guards here, I'm kind of impressed"

"I had hoped it would have taken you too.. Well, guess I just have to kill you myself" his words were jagged, he clearly had no love for the old man.

Robert who stood a foot behind Jonas, took his free hand and let his powers flow from his body, and put his hand to Anna's forehead, trying to undo the magic from the potion, but his attempt was interrupted by a blade he barely twisted away from. The swing took his ringfinger and littlefinger, in addition to creating quite a gash into Anna's hip. In the small amount of time it took for his brain to receive the signal of pain, Jonas had reacted with seemingly inhuman reflexes. He had cut off the hand of the guard that had attacked Robert.

"ROBERT! GET HER OUT OF HERE!" Jonas yelled, but his mind was occupied with getting the potions effects out of her and the pain that somehow ceased as soon as he focused.

"Hold them for just 10 seconds" he spoke calmly, he had to keep a cool head and somehow force himself to trust Jonas. He knelt and let Anna's body fall to the floor, a little hastily if you go by the sound her body made upon impact. He quickly stopped the bleeding where is fingers had just been, and focused with closed eyes.

Jonas caught on and started counting, one, knowing that the girl had enough power to stop whatever backup they had called for. Keeping up with two skilled fighters proved to be a real challenge for Jonas, the first swing of his sword was skillfully blocked, two, and the fist that collided with his wrist made him drop his sword, three, the swing meant to take of his head was dodged by crouching, four, he put all the power he could muster into his legs and lunged for the legs of both guards, five, he held out his arms to each side and grabbed a leg on both men, six, he kept his momentum to the best of his abilities but the guard on his left saw it coming and jerked his leg away, seven, the guard that didn't heard a pop from where the hip and thigh meet and dropped his sword, he wasn't as experienced as the other guard, eight, Jonas rolled to the side as soon as possible but it was a little too late his left calf was pinned to the floor and pain shoot through his body, nine, he turned his head towards the guard that had avoided him and the sword that stood straight up, lodged in the wood beneath his leg, a second before another sword reached his heart Robert threw a knife into the throat of the guard, ten.

Robert bent down to whisper in Anna's ear as soon as she opened her eyes, "I don't know what you can do but now is the time to do it" just as he finished his sentence a horn could be heard on the road in front of the mansion.

"Fuck...the...fire" Jonas coughed.

Anna looked at her surroundings, first she noticed the flames that managed to make the roof and walls creak, the second was the pain from her hip, the third was the old man. The man that she had heard speak in the arena, the man that was running this experiment for the king. Hatred and rage overtook her as she released a wave of uncontrolled magic hitting Robert point blank, flinging him towards the wall behind him, Jonas was the next to get hit along with the three injured guards, the sword that had his leg pinned didn't move, he did. Ripping his leg of at the knee and tossing the rest of him close to the front door.

The old man was the last to be hit but he was the target, so the force that was directed against him was strongest, the power felt good to Anna, it almost taunted her to release even more, but she had seen what it did to the kids she had killed, her mind broken as it was told her this wasn't an innocent kid, this was the evil man that had made her life a living hell for six years. She smiled and let the it flow, no matter how much agony she felt, this man had to die. His ribs cracked when he was hit, it took him off his feet and in a matter of seconds he was pressed firmly against the wall a foot above the floor, and a few feet from Jonas.

Robert had gotten the wind knocked out of him but was otherwise okay for unknown reasons, he lifted his head and saw a frightening sight, the flames around the room looked as if they were drawn in the direction of Anna, the flames which before had danced across the ceiling as an inverted ocean stood in spikes downwards, likewise the flames that covered most of the walls was now horizontal. He felt bad about his thoughts, but he now understood why people would seek out such powers, with them a single person could probably take over an entire kingdom unless they wore themselves out and keeled over from exhaustion that is. When his eyes landed on Anna's form his mind was filled with fear, the magic had a dark and heavy feeling about them, as if it was an empty vessel looking for anything to latch onto, tear apart and swallow up. From the peripheral of his vision he saw his necklace light up, more than he had seen before until the emerald finally had enough, cracking then crumbled to dust, the magic in the room was too much for his worn catalyst.

Anna who was approaching the man slowly but surely, every action she took was instinctual, she could feel the power take hold as it had done multiple times before, but this time it didn't act on its own. This time it almost caressed her insides, making her feel good throughout her body, it submitted to her, for the first time since she was placed here she was in control. And she had every intention of releasing her anger on the man she held to the wall.

The front door was kicked in when Anna was about ten feet from the man, the first guard that entered immediately regret it, the girls attention had shifted towards the door and the old man had dropped to the floor. Before the new arrival could prepare for the impact, Anna's body had moved according to the training she had received, the second it took for her to cover the distance to the guard was enough for the old man to watch the scene, his life's work was finally here, he had done it. There was no doubt when he saw her eyes glowing, there was no mistake, he had managed to create a hybrid. He saw the force she put into the punch directed at the guards plate mail, denting it inwards and throwing him out the front door, the whiplash probably broke his neck and ruptured several organs. But the old man was staring with satisfaction.

Anna thought she was in control until the man she had just hit lay still on the dirt several yards in front of the large double doors. As much as she would like to stop it she couldn't, there was too much magic, she couldn't reel it in. Her muscles started aching, her head pounding, her heartbeat quickening. She was gonna pass out soon, perhaps die, she didn't know. One thing she did know however was that if she were going to die she would take him with her. So she closed the distance between her and the old man not caring about the beam that just fell from the ceiling right next to her.

At the same time Robert had seen his chance to make his way to the front door, on the way he grabbed the hand Jonas held up and pulled him out, the guards outside was standing a good distance away from the burning mansion and let them through without second guessing, everyone was too struck with terror after the first guard was disposed of so violently by a small child.

Anna now stood towering over the old man, even with her small frame she was a sight to behold, the last word he managed to get out was, "beautiful" before Anna screamed at him and released the rest of what power she could feel. It was focused enough to crush his skull, the broken ribs protruded from his back covering the wall behind him with a sheet of blood. His whole body along with a large chunk of wall was blasted towards the dozens of guards outside, five of the men that stood a bit too close was hit by the wall and sustained severe injuries.

After the last power drained away Anna fell to her knees, the pain was gone for now, yet she couldn't stand. All of her energy had been spent. The mansion that was now pretty banged up and broken could not hold out for much longer, the flames righted themselves as Anna's anger faded, she was still aware of the predicament she now found herself in, the roof was soon going to collapse, the same way she had, and no matter how much she wanted to move her body didn't listen.

Kneeling on the floor she could feel the immense heat from the flames pick up and the supporting wood in the structure was being weakened by the fire. A flaming pillar had slowly begun tilting in her direction, when it was angled enough to fall she looked up and accepted her fate, but the large pillar of fire was knocked askew by another smaller pillar underneath it, made of ice. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and it still took her right arm with it, crushing the bones in her forearm and hand.

The pain hit her with force, she screamed out as her view darkened, all she saw was blonde hair bordering on white, flawless skin, piercing blue eyes and a voice so beautiful telling her to hang on, that only one conclusion could be drawn. She was being saved by an angel, her eyesight was fading, the skin on her arm had been severely charred and the angel in front of her tried to get the large pillar away, but it wouldn't budge. The angel tried and tried, but kept failing.

"Cut it off" Anna's voice was weak but commanding.

"What?!" the angel sounded surprised by her words.

"Cut it off, it's to broken to fix anyway, the roof is gonna collapse" she refused to let her angel die because of her, to much death had happened today already.

The angel hesitated, she looked around before her eyes started glowing a pure white, a blade formed in her hand, and in a single slash Anna was pulled free from the confines of her destroyed limb. The heat she felt was quickly soothed by freezing ice encasing the cut. The ice was covered in strips she tore from her dress acting as bandages, then Anna felt a couple of cool hands lifting her up and carrying her out of the building before it tumbled down and was nothing but an oversized bonfire. Then she was out again, so soon after waking up to chaos.

* * *

 **AN: Shit, so yeah. Anna has power! Still, Elsa can freeze an entire kingdom so i thought it was justifiable that Anna could mutilate a human and a wall. According to another story I stumbled upon she could control the suns position on the sky, talk about climate change.  
Just in case you were wondering, yeah the characters will be slightly OOC mainly because I didn't feel like writing a story where the main characters were saints, no one is, so it seems unrealistic. (As if magic is realistic)**

 **PS. In the prologue i wrote, "** **I wanted to write something new". This is the first thing i have ever uploaded not the first thing I've ever written, the rest of my stories has simply been for shits and giggles, expanding my creative side, it needs some heavy duty polishing and that is best accomplished with feedback, things I need to work on, change, whatever it might be, it's just a little difficult to notice your own mistakes. Ramble done, enjoy!**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	3. Chapter 2

"Elsa, hurry up, we have to get back up north, we're way to close to the southern border" Kristoff urged his sister.

"Sorry Kris, I'm coming" Elsa and Kristoff had been sent to a small village, just outside the borders of the southern kingdoms, to find a specific scholar in magic. A scholar that had researched a method to enhance a magic users control over their powers. The blonde teenager always had trouble controling hers, which is why she rarely left her hometown, and why she had traveled so far south to gain all the insight she could in the scholars research. She wasn't looking forward to the ordeal, especially not when she had read about other hybrids experiencing extreme loss of control and that it takes weeks to finally have some semblance of restraint again. As her magic reserves were considered more than adequate, she would need the control, unless she wanted to freeze anything she got close to or touched.

The King and Queen, Elsa and Kristoffs parents, had been torn between dealing with Elsa growing powers themselves, and sending their daughter uncomfortably close to the south. The people that had knowledge about magic in Arendelle had warned the King that a hybrid would peak in power during puberty, the changing moods and development kids goes through during that period would also happen to the respective hybrids powers. At first it would increase out of proportion, until it naturally found the right amount the person could handle. And in the end Elsa had been sent with Kristoff, after a long and tiring discussion about pros and cons.

So of course Elsa was not looking forward to it. Her magic was like a royal vault filled to the brim with gold. If all those coins suddenly duplicated, and that result would duplicate again before you had time to expand the vault. The gold would overflow, force the vault door open and flood into the hallway. Elsa shuddered at the thought of what she would have to endure.

When she was finally ready to leave after gathering all the transcripted pages of the scholars research, and a few personal tips she had never written down, Kristoff had readied their disguises and packed some food for the trip in the saddles of the two royal horses outside.

Elsa quickly said her goodbyes to the elderly lady and was on the horse as swiftly as she could. The night was fast approaching in the winter, and they had a long way home. On top of that, they had received a message from John, the spy in the south. He hadn't told them anything of great importance, but he had warned them that the southern king knew Elsa was close and that he had sent trackers to find them. So when they saw three dozen guards riding through the town, paranoia had hit the burly brother and he quickly threw the brown garb over Elsas head and pulled the cloak over her hair. Better play it safe.

Kristoff had reacted as any older brother would, he had fussed about it with only Elsas safety in mind. He was close to just throw her over his shoulder and ride off without any thought about the goal of their trip. Luckily Elsa was smart enough to calm him down and give him a specific task his mind could wrap itself around and focus on, ready some food and clothes. It only took him a minute and forty seconds to ready it all. A tad quicker than Elsa had hoped for. Now that they were finally heading home Kristoff relaxed and let his shoulder slump down and ease away some of his tension.

"How you holding up anyway? Your birthday is close now" he asked when he had collected his thoughts.

"I'm fine I guess, I haven't felt any major changes so far" she lied, she had spontaneously frozen over things she touched during the last six months, and she only ever felt comfortable touching her family, giving them hugs or handshakes.

"Alright, good to hear, other than the abrupt departure it was fun hanging out with you again sis, ever since our parents started grooming me to take over the throne we haven't spent much time together" the tone in his voice was saddened by memories of them playing in the snow and frightening the staff in the castle.

"It's only natural Kris, we both knew the day would come for you to become a man" She grinned and beamed with positive energy.

"When did you get so mature little snowflake?" he had to chuckle.

"The moment I figured out my brother was an emptyheaded goof. The real question is why haven't you become wise and mature yourself?" she couldn't help but laugh, joking around with her brother was always something that brought joy to her.

"Ouch, that one stung. Besides, i never said you were wise. Just mature, definitely not wise" he shot back.

"Oh you big baby, we both know that it's all an act and that you're the perfect person to sit on the throne".

"I'll always be a child at heart, no matter how I might act when I sit on the throne and have to run the kingdom" he directed the horse a little closer to Elsa and ruffled her hair, and pulled her hood down a little, while leading them towards the right when they met a fork in the road. An innkeeper had told him the night before, that to the left was a mansion owned by an old man who paid royal guards to keep his grounds free from wolfs and other pests. And by pests the innkeeper meant the orphans that was sometimes seen being chased away from his apple trees.

"Yeah, even when you're..." Before Elsa could finish her awesome joke, she was interrupted by a huge ball of flame and a loud bang down the left path.

They both stopped to see the ball of flame and smoke rise into the air, until it dissipated and a glow from the fire lighting the top of the trees. Kristoff pulled Elsa's horse closer, not planning on letting go. But the good natured kid had already decided that she had to help, so she tried to wrestle Kristoffs hand away from the reigns.

"Stop!" Kristoff almost yelled, "I know you want to help, but the very same people looking for us is down that road, we can't risk it" he tried to reason with her, knowing it had a fifty/fifty shot at working in his favor.

Elsa shot him a glare that told him to shut it and let her go, if she was able to help she would, no matter who might be in trouble and how evil or good the people she would save actually were. She would always save a person in need, which could be seen in the castle staff. She had begged her father to take in the kids that the orphanage couldn't and give them work and a warm place to stay. So a lot of the kitchen and cleaning staff was composed of kids ranging in age anywhere from nine to seventeen, obviously some had been there longer than others.

"Alright, but no one. And I mean NO ONE!" he stressed, "Is to see you using your powers, it will be difficult enough to explain our very none southern looks and even harder if anyone recognize us" Elsa nodded and he released the reigns, they both turned their horses and spurred them into a gallop towards the fire.

It didn't take them as long as Kristoff had anticipated, maybe a minute at full speed, maybe less. When the mansion slipped into view Elsa could feel the magic coming from inside the house, her heart clenched and her eyes involuntarily had a faint glow in them. Kristoff didn't notice, his eyes were fixated on the man that had just been forcefully pushed through the threshold of the door and landed with a thud and a skid on the ground, he was motionless. They came to a stand still a short distance from the men standing in front of the residence. When blood started seeping out of the mans ears and mouth he looked to his right expecting Elsa to be there, but only her horse was present. He heard sand and soft snow and gravel being squished and displaced under hurried footsteps, he looked in the direction of the sounds and saw her run around the right side of the group of guards in front of the entrance.

No one paid attention to the kid, everyone was focused on the scream coming from the house and the part of the wall that was launched into five guards next to Elsa, the impact created a small cloud of dust and smoke. Kristoff's mind created about a hundred bad scenarios in a second, bile was suddenly pushing against the lower part of his esophagus trying to escape his stomach. The feeling lasted for seconds that felt like years, as he watched Elsa's eyes widen at the mangled man on top of the independent piece of wall. And then he noticed the glow in her eyes.

' _Fuck, Elsa look away, close your eyes, anything, just don't show them_ ' he thought as she turned to disappear into the burning building. The guards had seen her, but none had moved to apprehend her, Kristoff figured it was from terror. But the guards simply didn't know what to do against such forces, they were just backup coming to pick up two men that planned to defy direct orders, according to the letters they had recieved earlier that day.

Kristoff gazed at the hole created mere seconds ago and saw a girl younger than Elsa with red hair, the garb she was wearing clung to her left side, a line of blood ran down her thigh. Her eyes unfocused, and a facial expression that screamed defeat was all he managed to see before the flames picked up from the new source of oxygen the hole had created, obscuring his view.

* * *

When Elsa saw the disfigured old man in front of her she felt scared, sick, weak and multiple different emotions, she understood the concept of death and had easily accepted it when her cat had died, knowing that sickness and age took life. But this picture wasn't like the peaceful looking cat she buried, she couldn't stop herself from looking, even if looking was disgusting and sickening. Something about looking at him made her understand why all the guards back home wouldn't tell her about certain war stories.

She curled in on herself for a second as her stomach decided to shrink to a tenth of its original size, and her late lunch took up too much space. Only now could she look away and get back to saving whoever was still inside. She twisted on the spot and saw the kneeling girl inside and made her way to the open double doors. Just before she entered she saw a man missing two fingers pressing a piece of burning wood to another mans severed leg. Her stomach threatened to shrink again from the trail of blood in the dirt and the small pool that had formed underneath the two men.

' _Come on! Save the girl, vomit later_ ' She forced herself to enter the burning building while subconsciously lowering the temperature of the air immediately around her body.

Elsa took in view of the flames inside of the mansion, a picture of three men dressed the same as the ones outside was impaled on broken planks in distorted ways. Her insides was being tested, the thing that pulled her away this time was the movement of a large pillar in front of the girl sitting 30 feet away from her on the floor. The girl stared at the pillar but she didn't move. Elsa reacted without thinking, running to the only person alive in the blazing inferno. As she saw the pillar rapidly increased in speed, she formed a pillar to stop it, but the heat was to much for her to form ice solid enough to handle the weight. It cracked and snapped in half, but she had managed to knock it marginally to the side.

Unfortunately it wasn't enough, the girls right arm had been crushed underneath the massive wooden pillar, producing an agony filled scream. Acting fast was essential. If the support pillars was falling it couldn't be long before the ceiling and roof was coming down.

Falling to her knees next to the screaming girl she frantically tried to move the pillar, forming strong ice around her hands to be able to touch the burning pillar, "It's gonna be okay, just hang on" she reassured the girl as much as herself, the wood was creaking. The building would collapse soon, but Elsa's almost fifteen year old mind couldn't come up with a solution to get the girl out. The heat was too strong to make anything large and her body wasn't strong enough to move the pillar. She was starting to panic, telling the girl the same sentence over and over, "It's gonna be okay, just hang on".

Just as she was about to give up, the girl looked at Elsa. Well it was more like the girl looked straight through her, Elsa didn't know if the girl could even see her, her eyes looked foggy and tired.

"Cut it off" the girl weakly commanded.

Elsa couldn't believe her, how in the seven hells could she tell her to cut off half of her arm, "What?!" She managed to get out, doubting her sense of hearing.

"Cut it off, or we'll both die, the roof is gonna collapse" she spoke up, a little more force behind her words.

' _Is this girl serious? Should I really do it? I mean, shes's got a point...WHAT!? Am I really gonna do this?_ ' Elsa asked herself as she looked around to check if no one was watching, there wasn't. Focusing her magic was troublesome, but there was no time left. She forced magic into the palm of her hand to create ice strong enough to survive the heat. The blade took shape from the hilt and grew into a smallsword. It was sharp and thin. Elsa had never created a weapon before, and never ice this dense and sturdy. The pride she felt from her accomplishement was odd considering the situation. She lifted her left hand wielding the sword, and brought it down to cut the girls arm off at the elbow. As soon as the ice made contact with the floor, she quickly reshaped it to encase the cut.

When the ice was in place she tore strips from the brown dress she was wearing and wrapped it around the ice, it was sloppy and carelessly done. Elsa deemed it enough for now and lifted the girl off of the floor and turned to the front door. It was completly ingulfed in flames now, only the opposite side of the already blown up wing of the mansion was clear enough to pass through. So she ran as fast as she possibly could into the long hallway that ended up leading out back to the field behind the large home.

The building collapsed behind her leaving only a part of the east wing standing, waiting to be caught in the flames. She placed the girl on the damp grass and removed the crude bandage she had made to check on her ice, when she removed it she saw something she couldn't have predicted. Her ice seemed to have created a hard shell, but it was like a fluid unerneath. It flowed and swirled around the clean cut she had made. If she had to describe it, it was almost as if her ice was alive, mending the cut on it's own.

And then the last couple of minutes hit her, first she was joking around with Kristoff, then the explosion happened, as they rode towards the house Elsa had felt her powers act up because of the strange force from inside the house. It had compelled her to get closer, to seek it out, it was like a cry for help mixed with distress and despair. Then the bodies, seeing that was something she could have lived without. And finally the girl. It wasn't until now that she understood the powers was coming from her, the somber surge she had felt riding to the house originated from the girl laying dead still on the ground before her. The girl she had touched without freezing her, despite the stress she had felt.

Looking at the the girls skin that started to somewhat lighten a tone or two, the single strip of hair that turned white from her scalp, up the soft curls, ending at the tip. Her eyelids had a dim light in them, at first it was purple, then the weak purple light in her right eye gradually lost it's color, fading gently to become a pure white. The same as hers. She got up in shock, and stared in disbelief.

' _Another one like me..._ ' she thought before she heard rustling in the bushes next to the still standing walls, redirecting her thoughts to the sounds. For a splitsecond she was hit with dread, until she heard an "Umph" and saw Kristoff tumble through the bushes and onto the ground.

"Damn roots," he muttered as he stood and ran to Elsa, "Elsa, we need to leave. Now! This whole thing will attract the village and most likely more guards." he was right, and they both knew it. Elsa glanced at the girl, the ice was now only a thin layer covering the cut, unmoving unlike before. Her eyes didn't glow anymore either. Elsa tore her eyes away from the banged up girl and looked to Kristoff.

"We can't leave her here alone!" She whisper-shouted.

"Yes we can, and we will." he took her by the arm and pulled her to the bushes he had come from, the horses tied up behind some shrubbery and trees away from the view of the guards. they saddled up and hastily fled the scene, leaving the girl behind on the ground.

* * *

 **AN: If you think things are going a bit too smoothly for Kristoff and Elsa, don't worry, it's all according to plan.**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	4. Chapter 3

The two men, Robert and Jonas had been taken prisoner by the general that showed up shortly after the explosion. And he had been livid with his men, why they didn't grab the hybrid and how they could let the mansion blow up, knowing Jonas' plan before hand and all. When they couldn't answer his questions with what he deemed a satisfying answer he stabbed one in the throat and looked around at the men, telling them to find them before they got to far away. A couple of the guards saddled up and rode off towards the main path and ahead. Some of them stood in a semicircle around the two men who had sustained injuries, one missing some fingers and another missing half a leg. The general recognized Jonas as one of the old mans assistants, he didn't know Robert, or cared for that matter, they were prisoners, nothing else. So he had them tossed into a cage on wheels, the king could decide what to do with them.

All Robert and Jonas could do now was to pray for Anna's safety. How much could a recently crippled and a priest do against 21 guards? Not much. So they both held on to hope and asked all the gods to keep her safe. One man because he wanted revenge, the other because of his guilt and shame.

"General, you better come see this!" a man shouted from behind the mansion, and Roberts spine straightened and stiffened. ' _Oh god no! Please please please tell me they didn't find her dead_ '.

"WHAT IS IT!? WE ALREADY KNOW YOU ARE A BUNCH OF INCOMPETENT FOOLS, JUST TELL ME OR I'LL CUT OFF YOUR TONGUE AND EAT IT" the general shouted back, it was loud and authoritative. Fitting for a man of his position.

"It's a girl sir, bloodied and bruised, I'm not sure if she's alive" the return sounded.

'FUCK!' Robert thought.

"BRING HER AROUND TO THE FRONT.. NOW! IMBECILES" he continued.

"Will do sir" he yelled back, but soon after, a piercing shriek was heard and then silence.

The general motioned for the two closest guards to go and check it out, he was in no mood to spend any more time here, he had been stationed in this town to make sure the Kings little project wasn't discovered, and now he stood with rubble and an escaped hybrid on his hands. It wouldn't end well for him, and he knew it. He was a man of low morals but high honor, he would face his king with his chin held high and answer for his failings if it couldn't be avoided. Even if it meant death.

"Sir, I believe you should come and see this!"

"Urgh, why am I always in charge of the dumbest of dumb people" he muttered to himself before trodding of behind the mansion. What he saw was, well, not what he had expected, the guard he told to bring the girl was hunched over, as if he was picking her up, frozen in place. Not a hair on his head moved, and his eyelids was stuck in place, gazing into nothingness. The General knew about the princess of ice, but he was certain that, that girl, was not the princess. She was too young and her hair wasn't platinum blonde. Except for a single stripe of white, her hair was red. So definitely not the northern princess, but she had the same powers.

' _Maybe I could use this girl to avoid the axe.._ ' the general thought.

He bent down and observed his subordinate and the girl, but he stopped before getting to close to her. He stood up and thought for a second before he looked around, found a piece of wood with some embers on it, picked it up and went over to the kid again. Ever so gently he began to move the end of the wood adorned with embers towards the girl, when it was about two inches from her, the embers were extinguished and the blackened wood started freezing over rapidly. When the ice got halfway up the stick he pulled it back and examined it, the frost was still creeping across it but it had slowed down significantly, and when it got too close to his hands he dropped the wood only for it to shatter on impact, leaving only the piece he had been holding.

' _Well well well, this is not good.. I may have to come back here with some magicians later._ '

"You two, stay here and keep an eye on this one, it looks like we can't get near her due to some protective magic of sorts, I'll come back with someone who knows about these things." with that he turned on his heel and was headed to the front of the mansion. The two guards he had left gave each other a quick glance before they looked to their friend, frozen in place, and a shudder went through their bodies. Even the unconscious Anna struck fear in people.

When the general was out of hearing range one of the guards let out a shaky breath, and shuddered, "It wasn't this cold before was it?" he timidly asked his companion.

"No. It wasn't. Let's just keep our distance, I don't wanna end up like Luke there" he pointed to the frozen man.

"I'm right there with you." They both stepped closer to the still huge pyre to keep warm.

The general on the other hand was lost in thought when he got to the cage. He couldn't figure out what had compelled his men to just stand there while a hybrid had wrecked havoc. Sure they weren't strong enough in the magic department to stand up to one. But their training should have made them smart enough to at least have work together, to keep her at bay for a while until backup from the vanguard arrived. That is why they have learned to shield themselves from hostile magic. Perhaps this hybrid was too strong?

Apparently the turmoil was noticeable because the now one-legged man Jonas voiced his opinion, "General, did you find the girl? I was working along the headmaster of this house, I know more about her than anyone else here, and I bet you don't want to go to the capitol only to return here, it's quite a journey". Robert kept his mouth shut in a thin line, inwardly though he smiled.

' _You sly dog! Well you would have to be slippery to last this long_ ' Robert thought at his new partner in crime.

"And just why should I trust a traitor?" was the short emotionless answer from the general.

Jonas' mouth curled into a smile, "Because I can help, after all, I am skilled at blood magic, and you don't seem to have the girl with you," he pointed out, paused for a second to let it sink in, "and that can only mean two things, she's dead which would be a shame, or she's alive and you can't get close to her.. She is the first artificial hybrid, and the king would be very displeased to hear you left her behind." Jonas could see the effect of mentioning the king had on the general.

"You better not try anything, or I will personally stab you through the heart!" the general sneered

"Look at me sir, what can I possibly do with one leg, and large amounts of lost blood?" he deadpanned.

A groan was his answer, and the general motioned for the keyholder to open the cage, when he had done so he pulled Jonas out and almost dragged him behind the mansion to see the girl. Robert wasn't in on whatever plan Jonas had concocted, so he sat up with his back to the iron bars and rested his head on the metal. He let out an exhausted breath and replayed the events in his head, everything had happened so fast, but one image was clear in his head, the way the fire had practically been drawn towards Anna. And the feeling he had when he looked at her, the void-like presence her magic gave off. She clearly had very little control over it, she couldn't direct it properly. Yet when he was hit so close all it did was knock the air out of his lungs, Jonas had his leg ripped off, so there was a lot of force behind it. So why was he relatively unharmed compared to the others?

While Robert mulled over the questions he had, Jonas was placed on a stub from a rather large tree recently cut. He reached into his cloak and fished out a small roll of leather, inside was a ring with a ruby on it, a small scalpel and some unknown powder in a tiny leather bag. He took the ring and put it on, opened the powder bag and blew some of it towards Anna, and it froze upon touching the invisible bubble around her. Of course he noticed the changes, the white in her hair, her skin that was almost the same color as the snow, and the subtle change in her magic. So when he took the scalpel he turned to the guards standing by the mansion, "Any of you who want to donate some blood?" he asked, the general looked to the guards who was shaking their heads, "I bet not, get the other prisoner here then" Jonas said before starting to chant. The general warily complied, mostly because Jonas actually knew about the girl and the work that had been done here.

When Robert was thrown next to Jonas the chanting stopped. Jonas took the scalpel and Roberts hand without saying a word and sliced a rather deep cut on the back of it, he held out his hand underneath and let the blood trickle into his hand. When it started spilling over the side of his hand he threw it towards Anna. This time it didn't freeze where the powder had, it fell through and hit Anna in drops across her body, then he took what was left in his hand and smeared a bit on the forehead of Robert. After a couple of seconds Robert heard a voice in his head.

' _Don't worry, all that other crap was just to get this link going. It won't last forever but it allows us to talk secretly_ ' Jonas' voice resounded clear as day.

' _What the fuck is this... It feels, uhm, weird_ ' Robert replied, only flinching a bit at the sudden voice in his head.

' _I know.. Connecting you mind with someone isn't exactly safe, it can go very wrong.. You could say I took a chance on you being strong willed_ '.

' _I'm guessing I don't want to know what would happen if it did go wrong?_ '.

' _Yeah.. Just be glad it didn't, now lets get her to the cage. We can't leave her out of our sights, when she wakes up you need to be there. You were the one who got her out, she might trust you enough to not freak out about her new powers._ '

Jonas stood up with Robert supporting him, the general looked at him, "You done now?" he asked.

"Yeah, she's safe to touch now" Jonas tilted his head in a show of respect. It was faked, but the general didn't know that.

"Good, get her to the cage, priest. I'm not touching that girl.. No fucking way." He wasn't about to take the risk of getting frozen. So Robert did what he was told. Even if he was full of apprehension, not wanting to meet the same fate the frozen guard had met, he still did it with haste. Luckily he did not freeze, but he noticed the girl was extremely cold. He also noticed that her breathing was shallow and erratic, his conclusion to this was that she had been laying outside in the cold. ' _Wait.. Jonas said 'her new powers. Could it be?_ '.

' _Yeah, it's pretty much what you think._ ' Jonas thought.

"Fucking hell!" Robert exclaimed, almost dropping Anna.

"SHUT IT! Fucking priest giving me a heart attack. What was that for?!" The general yelled out at Roberts exclamation.

"Nothing, sorry sir." Robert timidly replied.

"Just get her to the cage.. This day is turning worse by the second." he sighed.

When all six people got to the cage again the three prisoners got into the cage again, carefully placing Anna between them, and they were off.

* * *

It had been three hours since the siblings had fled the burning mansion and the general that had appeared while Elsa was saving the girl. They followed the less obvious routes and took all the smaller paths to avoid being seen, it would prolong their travel time, but it was safer. So far it had been a quiet journey, Elsa had been in a mild state of shock, the image of the old man was too fresh in her mind. Kristoff on the other hand was worrying about being followed, when he was sure they weren't, he could finally process the scene he had observed.

The one thing about it all that he couldn't wrap his mind around was the lack of response in the guards, he was absolutely sure they had seen his sister. Why they supposedly hadn't been pursued or why they didn't apprehend her then and there was beyond him. They expressed fear sure, but her eyes had been glowing and the south isn't known for treating any kind of mage with respect. They are merely tools to be used as weapons. So, why indeed?

His thoughts was interrupted by a statement he wasn't sure he should answer, "I shouldn't have left her there" her voice was as small as she felt. She couldn't help but feel guilty about how she handled the situation. She could have been more persistent and demanded to bring her with them, or at least they could have made sure she didn't freeze over, but no. She just looked at her once and left without any thought. In other words, Elsa felt like a horrible person for leaving the younger girl to die.

"You didn't, please don't blame yourself, blame me if you want.." when she looked at him he could see the guilt in her eyes, "..It's just that.. I know it's no excuse, but I had to get my sister away from there.. I don't know that girl, and.. and I had to prioritize you above everyone else.." he finished weakly, he didn't mean to just leave her, but his kid sister was possibly in a lot of danger. A quick decision later and they had left a small child in the snow. He knew she was likely dead by now in this weather. He shuddered at the thought and knew that Elsa was thinking the same.

"No, I don't blame you, or not really. But, something happened Kris, something I've never seen before.." now Kristoffs attention was entirely on her and it was a little, unnerving, "..She, umm, she told me to cut off her arm inside the house," his brows furrowed but he didn't say anything, "her arm was crushed beneath a support pillar, and I.. I didn't think, I just.. acted.. and when I shaped my ice around the cut.. It looked like it was alive Kris. It was moving and it was sort of healing her, when I put her on the ground her eyes glowed.. First it was like a soft lavender color, but one of her eyes changed Kris.. It turned white.. Like mine" She ended, not knowing exactly how to explain the bizarre show of fluid ice and what she saw.

"Are you sure? Living ice?" he asked a bit in disbelief.

"I know how it sounds, but that's what I saw. I don't know what to think, maybe my powers have started changing already." She looked down at her hands and pondered what the changes would bring. More power that's for sure, but imbuing her ice with life? It wasn't something she would have ever imagined. It scared her to think about the possible outcomes of her change.

"I'm not the one to ask about magic, I'm a bit short on experience on that. Let's just get home first, we can gather all the experts and figure it out. We always do right?" he tried smiling but it didn't register in his sisters mind.

"I guess" she softly spoke, still looking at the palm of her hands.

"Listen up here Starburst, you didn't do anything wrong. A lot of people would never run into a burning building and save someone they don't know. They wouldn't ever risk their life for someone they don't know. But you did. You got an innocent girl out of there, you, my dear sister, are a hero!" He proudly puffed out his chest and made a small bow to his sister, reassuring her that nothing was wrong when everything clearly wasn't. What she had just told him was hard to believe, thinking it was just the shock or something similar. He had to put on a brave face, but he didn't believe her. It just couldn't be true that a hybrids signature eyes changed, he didn't know much about magic, but he did know that such a thing doesn't happen.. Ever.. So they rode on in a hurry to get to the northern kingdoms where they were safe.

* * *

 **Hey there, so far the first three chapters was written kinda fast, and i appreciate the reviews and follows, even just people clicking on it brings me joy, it means they gave it a chance, which is all i ask for. Now i know it has been far too long since I tossed out an update, the three first ones was almost fully done before i posted anything, hence the speedy updates.**

 **Now a guest asked if Anna had royal blood, and to be honest I hadn't given it a single thought before that, so I'll leave it up to you guys, do you want her to be royal or not? I've had some time to think about the consequences of it. The main one is obviously how Elsa and Annas relationship will be viewd upon by other royal families, if she is royal then her sex will be the only problem, if she isn't then her social status will play a part in them getting more enemies.**

 **Also, sorry, the reason for Kristoff pulling Elsa away is hopefully understandable :D**

 **Now, on with it, not liking something? Tell me. Any constructive criticism is very welcome. Thoughts or questions? PM or review me all you like, I'll be sure to answer you :)**

 **\- Love Mr. Turtle!**


	5. Chapter 4

' _So what do you suggest we do? Why can't you use your magic to get us out of here?_ ' Robert internally voiced.

' _Blood magic do not work like that, it's useless in battle. You need time to use it, preparation is key. In this case your healing magic would work better than my magic!_ ' Jonas retorted, but he knew their situation wouldn't get better by arguing.

' _If i still had my necklace then yeah, we could but it got destroyed._ ' Robert reluctantly thought, that was a gift from his wife on the day his kids were born, ' _She did what?_ ' Jonas asked in surprise.

' _Yeah it started glowing really bright, and then it crumbled_ ' he answered, as if it was obvious.

' _Oh, anyway we have to get out of here we have about a week and a half, maybe two. The man riding behind the cage is the one with the key, just so you know in case you come up with some brilliant plan that doesn't involve her_ '.

' _Alright, I get it, I just don't want to rely on Anna anymore. She.._ ' he didn't finish, Jonas did for him ' _It scares you what she can do_ ' Jonas stated, and Robert could only nod, it was true, he knew the power from creatures like Anna. He had just never seen it up close before.

' _As long as we have no plan, tell me about her, you should know right?_ ' Robert off handedly thought.

' _I do yeah.. Hmm what should I start with?_ ' a pause following as he thought back.

' _Yeah, I just don't get what kind of magic that can create something like her._ ' Robert announced, Jonas' attention was on the word something, and not someone. Robert was scared shitless and he thought he was in a cage with a timebomb. If Anna reacted with violence when she woke up it could only end in a bad way for them. Jonas had to calm him down so he could actually help when she woke up.

' _Listen Rob, she's not that bad, she was actually a really bubbly character at first. When they didn't torture her every day that is. She would run around and tell stories, they were always detailed and focused on something good, sometimes a prince getting a kiss from a princess, or a champion who gets his wife back from an evil king. She was a ball of positive energy, even during physical training and the fights. She both won and lost, but she always checked on her opponent after a fight, making sure they were okay. They were friends and enemies at the same time. She was the one that held the group together as friends instead of mortal enemies. That was back when she was eight i think. And after the kids had learned fighting styles, tactical thoughtprocessing and basic knowledge of the world it all changed._ ' he took a moment to survey Roberts face, searching for any kind of emotional display. Nothing so far, just a man in thought.

' _Well continue_ ' Robert urged him on, desperate for some answers about all of this madness.

' _On the day of the first session in the ritual room I understood how serious this project was. It was horrible, I was told to cut into a small girl. I don't remember ever getting shaky before cutting into anyone, you know with the blood magic and all. But I did, and we used her blood as our source of magic, the method we used was different from any blood magic I have ever seen. The headmaster, the old man, had derived a method of mixing enchanting and blood magic. We drained her of almost all her blood, performed the ritual on it, and put it back.. It was new, and exciting, but two of the kids died during a ritual session. Anna on the other hand was tough, she only showed positive progress during it all. Where others would crack and slowly lose their minds during the transition to full-blown hybrids, she never wavered. She took it and harnessed it like no one else did. But it did change her in the end, her positive energy faded, their friendships soon turned to animosity towards one another. And since she was the most succesful, they excluded her, what little possessions she had was taken by the other kids. She was shunted out of the group. She was essentially alone for three years, getting tortured every night, with no one to share the pain with. Until you came around_ ' His tears started welling and he had to stop thinking for a moment, this also gave Robert some time to just, absorb the information.

A silence fell over the two, their temporary link allowed Robert to feel a slight hint of regret and sadness from Jonas. So he looked anywhere but at him or Anna. Instead he took in the scenery around him, it was lightly snowing, covering the hills and wooden landscape of Sasmain, the main part of the Southern Isles.

Well it wasn't so much Isles, the land was split into three large regions, in the west was Wesain pure plains, no real forests but good for agriculture and hunting but other than that there was nothing special about it. In the east, Escain, that was mostly marshes and wetlands, It was frequently hit with massive storms blowing in from the ocean to the east. Crops could with difficulty be maintained but they mostly rely on shipments from Wesain, their strength was in enchanting metals, making it possible for non magic people to fight against mages. Between these two regions was Sasmain, the capital of Westergaard was located here, they had strong military and a large navy, the land was mostly hills and small mountains, abundant in mines and woods. The three regions was split by two huge rivers that flowed from the Skymountain. The mountain that was said to be the gateway to heaven, the tip extending further than the skies.

Sasmain, the middle part of the south, had a nickname only known to those with magic in their blood, Hell. Prosecutions of those people had almost driven the south into a civil war, but the King came up with a system, a system that effectively made magic users slaves to the non-magic people. It wasn't actually the Kings idea, but his advisors idea. The advisor who originated from Escain, arguably the most powerful enchanter in the world, who had a hunger for power that rivaled the kings. He crafted potions, and spells, and trinkets, made to force a magic person to submit. And it was effective, too effective. Any magic user in the south was slaves after that, hybrids included.

Robert had been lucky to even be allowed to live with his family, the king had given him one condition, to help with a new project far in the northern part of the main region. A project he had just helped blow to pieces, and essentially stolen the projects most valuable possession, Anna. He barely had time to realise the consequences of his actions before Jonas started up again.

' _The first time she killed one of the kids was the moment I knew she was the one to help me get revenge. The whole room could feel her emotions, anger, hatred and envy. But the most bloodcurdling of it all, she was smiling. After that I never saw Anna again, she started calling herself Athena in the presence of the mages. Fitting huh, calling herself after an ancient goddess. She turned into a force not to messed with, and she knew it. The kids knew it. We all knew it. And that is where the runes come into play, you have been trying to figure them out all this time. They are a control spell, similar to the enslaving done all over the country, but her power was too much for one person to control, that's why we were always four people in there. I intend to remove them, but I can't do it alone. You see now why I need you to be there for her? If she wakes up and sees my cloak and the cage she will lash out, we need her calm, her emotions should be positive, not negative. Now I'm not saying she will burst out the same force as she did back there, but just in case._ ' Jonas was growing desperate, the kid was starting to stir in her sleep, it wouldn't be long before she was in the land of the living again.

' _I get it, believe me I do. But the things i felt, it was like she sucked out all my happiness and replaced it with fear and anger. I even saw the flames be drawn towards her, what the hell was that?_ ' Robert never enjoyed having so little information, she was a wildcard, unpredictable.

' _That.. I'm not sure of. But we are going to find out, she is the first one after all. We know about her powers but so far they never had any element, it was just raw magic. My best educated guess is that not having an element weaved into your magic makes it volatile, difficult to control and it apparently takes a huge toll on her. She wasn't even awake for more than a minute or two before she passed out. A normal hybrid wouldn't have spent their magic that fast... Well, until now she didn't have an element._ ' Jonas thought offhandedly, he kept glancing down at Anna and her hair. He could feel a difference in her magic, it was barely there right now but he felt it.

Robert took a couple of deep breaths and tried focusing his mind, time to be composed and calm, if what Jonas said was true Anna would pick up on this soon after she would wake up. Afraid of what she might do but determined not to die at the hands of a madman, Robert slowly shook her by the shoulders to get her out of her dreams.

"Anna... Anna... Anna please wake up." he said while gently shaking her.

Anna slowly opened her eyes, with a groan she put her hands up to her face and.. Wait.. Hand. ' _Right that's a thing now_ ' she thought and another groan escaped her throat. She wiped her face with her left and noticed her hand was black, she must be filthy as hell, a face full of soot and hair filled with grime. ' _Shit, where the fuck am I_ ' she thought as she shot up sitting with her back straight in the middle of the cage, she looked right, a hooded man, to her left, Robert. Around them a cage, and lots of guards, she was sitting with her back facing the way they travelled. Her first decision was to force them all to the ground and run, but as soon as she tried gathering her magic, her head felt like exploding. Before her eyes she saw flashing lights, and she fell back and closed them again, just lying on the warm wooden boards was nice. Why were they warm? She had been expecting cold, actually she was expecting freezing cold. But it was warm, and the hand on her left shoulder was burning.

"Can you move your hand away from my shoulder?" she asked softly, not wanting to move.

"Uhm, 'kay, sure" Robert retracted his hands, "I was just, you know, uhm, worried about you, I don't want you to get sick in this weather. I mean, you're still only in a thin gown and you're frigid cold."

"Are you sure? I feel fine.. Sort of. I don't know" Anna didn't actually know how to feel at the moment, so she lifted her right arm and just looked at it. The cut was incredibly well done, she couldn't have done it better herself, it was clean, about an inch below her elbow. The ice that covered it was a thin slice, maybe half an inch in height, the circumference was a tiny bit wider than her arm and wrapped up her arm in small vines, keeping it in place. As she stared at it she began feeling the cold in her veins, as if her blood itself had been frozen over, her skin looked paler than before and her breath didn't show in the cold.

"Am I going insane here?" she thought out loud, and that made Jonas chuckle.

"I thought the same thing when i saw you lying on the ground with a strong magic shield around you. You actually froze a man, it was kind of amazing." Jonas said in a way to chipper tone.

"Shut up! She don't need to know that! She just woke up and the first thing you tell her is that she killed yet another person?!" Robert had hushed his voice but it was loud enough for the guards around them to hear and they all looked at Anna who was now awake, most of them had seen her display of power. They all moved slightly farther away from the cage, and of course Anna noticed this.

Her tactical mind took over, she gathered her thoughts and pushed all the questions away, now thinking up a plan to get the fuck out of the cage. It suddenly reminded her of the restraints in that god forsaken room. She sat up on her knees and pressed her forehead to the bars, as close as she could to the few guards on the left side of the cage.

"Are you afraid of me?" she asked the closest guard with a smirk. The man in question didn't even turn to look at her, he simply ignored her.

"Good, you should be!" she snarled, "Don't worry as soon as i get out you'll be the first to die..." still nothing, "You saw what I did to the man who ran into the house right?" he flinched, good sign, "We don't want that to happen again do we?" he spurred his horse forward and up to the generals horse. He leaned in and whispered something to him.

"What about you, do _you_ want to die?" she asked another one in a sweeter than candy voice.

"Just shut your trap before the general comes back here to shut it for you" he tried to sound macho, but it came out as a defiant kid.

"Yeah, you'd like that, I bet you get off on seeing little girls in pain." she laughed, sounding a little maniacal.

At this comment he rode a little closer, pulled his sword out and held it up against her chin, "A prisoner isn't allowed to speak, so do it again and you won't be able to talk ever again".

Anna could feel the blade slowly parting a small portion of her skin, the pain was meager compared to what she had been through, but this guy could be riled up, and she was starting to have a sick kind of fun, so she continued with her mental attacks, trying to get them all jittery. Their talking had gathered some attention. She let her tongue roll out and licked the blade lightly on the edge, carefully to not cut it.

"W-what are you doing girl!?" his bluster wavered a little.

"Hmm, I'm getting acquainted with the sword that is going to help me cut down every single one of you" her threat was clear and absolute to the guard who quickly pulled his sword back.

"Aww, weren't you gonna make me shut up?" she taunted, and this guard also took off to talk to the general. Her little act was a complete surprise to her current roommates. They had no idea where all this came from, but apparently she knew she was making them all a bit jumpy. And actually put it to use, even when she was beat up and fragile, her eyes didn't shine and she had nothing else to scare them with. Yet she was still not giving up, intent on never getting locked up again. If that happened now it would truly break her, she barely held it together as it was. So she kept up with her assault.

"How about you big guy, you can feel it can't you?" she asked the last of the guards on the left.

"Feel what?" he plainly asked back.

"Your end, it's approaching hastily.."

"Yeah, but it is so far away that it won't arrive in another 40 years." he laughed.

"What if I give it a push in the right direction?" again she smirked, threatening the guard as if she was in control of the whole situation. Which was far from true, she couldn't feel her magic yet, and without that she couldn't do anything. She was still a little kid in the end.

"Then do it short stuff, I don't believe you for a second. You're missing half you arm, you friend his leg, and that priest there is of no concern.. You can't do anything, if you could you wouldn't sit there making idle threats." he absentminded answered.

' _Damnit_ ' she thought, Anna hadn't used her training in the real world so the sudden resistance was foreign and her bravado crumbled quicker than it arrived,. She turned around and sat with her back to the bars, slumping in on herself, she was too exhausted to come up with snarky reply after snarky reply right now, she needed some power to truly frighten them all. The other two must have been newcomers, this guy was too comfortable when he talked to her. She had to come up with something different.

Jonas and Robert had been oddly quiet, Jonas took his thumb and swiped it across Anna's chin gathering some blood on the tip, she looked at him and he leaned in before asking her "How are you mentally?" in a whisper.

"I don't know. Why?" she whispered back.

"This way you can be in on our conversation, but your mental state has to be clear and strong, I don't want to link our minds if I risk becoming insane, I know what you've been through, I'd rather not live through your memories" he almost sounded apologetic.

"Yeah don't do that, I'm not really..." she abruptly stopped with widened eyes and as if she just now realised how messed up she was, she started softly crying. Her brave facade shattered and she just sat there, a young girl, never having been out in the world yet still doing whatever she could to be a part of it. And even as she felt a warm arm wrap around her she never looked up, she just sat with her legs pulled up to her chest, and her eyes buried into her knees. Leaning up against something warm was suddenly not so bad, not when the tears kept coming. For once she wasn't alone.

Internally Robert and Jonas had been discussing her act and which guards that had been most shaken up by it, a plan had slowly formed during it all and they were ready to set it in motion when they at some point had to stop. The travel to the kingdom would take a while, about two weeks Jonas had said. Considering the cage was heavy and they travelled at the speed of an old man walking leisurely on the beach, they would have to stop in about a few hours, half a day at most.

"Don't worry little one, we'll get out sooner than you know it" Robert, despite the cold on her skin, comforted the crying redhead as he pulled her closer, letting her get the salty tears out.

* * *

 **Alright, faster update than last time, just had to get this out, this chapter was mostly to get started with what the world looks like in my head.**

 **I've also decided on Annas heritage, and the reader that made me consider it gets his will (You know who you are). So far I have a good idea of where this is headed, more on how magic is used for common tasks, which is something I'm excited about, doing the whole world building thing has alway been fascinating to me, so if I get into a rut of just explaining shit about the world let me know where i go wrong and what I should improve on :)**

 **And lastly, if you have read this far and still feel like reading more then thank you it warms my face and heart, if you are at a point where you just don't want to read further and have lost interest, I would love to know why so I can avoid it in the future, after all this is just practice.  
** **It's the perfect place to voice your opinion and help shape perhaps the next big writer. Not me, but in general I think you should let the writer know what you think, it helps them understand what makes the readers tick and how their words a being read, I always know where my stories are headed, so I might make a mistake of having a character act or react in a way they shouldn't because I know more than they do, so if that happens I'm sorry, not doing it intentionally :D**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	6. Chapter 5

Anna found herself standing in a foreign room looking at what looked like a King and Queen, and a tiny bed.

"Oh my dear sweet Anna, you are just as beautiful as your mother" King Aldus looked down at his daughter with pure affection and love, he wrapped his left arm around his wife, Queen Madelina and pulled her closer. She had the same expression as Aldus, with an added tear in her eyes.

' _What?! Who are you?_ ' Anna tried asking as she looked down in a crib with a redheaded sleeping baby in it.

"I can't believe it's been almost three years since she entered our lives darling, she really is the light of our lives" the Queen said.

' _Mom?!_ ' She tried again.

"I feel the same, no amount of riches can compare to how precious she is to me. I just wish we had more time" he said as his expression changed from love to fear, and just a second later a loud boom could be heard from outside the castle. A few seconds later the head of the royal guard came rushing into the room.

' _What do you mean more time?_ ' they still didn't answer her.

"My King, my Queen.. they've breached.. the outer walls.. we must get you.. to safety!" he managed to get out between breaths.

' _What is going on?_ '.

The King looked to his wife, pulled her close and kissed her with fervor, there was a hint of sadness to it as he pulled back, "Protect our daughter" he whispered as he turned on his heel.

"I will, with my life" she said in a stoic voice, not letting her true feelings show. Her eyes were on the King as he walked to the guard and they both left the room. It was only then she allowed the tears to slip and fall down her face. She picked up her daughter, and carried her through the halls to the back of the castle. While the noises of war came closer and closer to the castle, the explosions got closer, the sound of metal could faintly be heard even this far from the action. Madelina rushed as fast as she could with the princess in her arms, running in a dress wasn't easy but she managed. Just as she turned the last corner to the escape route she was stopped by half a dozen of Westergaardian soldiers, and the southern kings most trusted advisor, Wimarc.

"Not so fast there miss, we need you to hand over the princess" Wimarc demanded.

"Over my dead body" she growled back as her eyes started glowing an almost scarlet-crimson red.

' _This isn't real. Please tell me this isn't real_ ' Anna had followed the fleeing woman.

"Oh-ho-ho my queen, that is not going to help you here" he chuckled as he motioned for the soldiers to take the kid. The queen raised a hand and let her inner fires manifest in a spiral double coil shape towards the approaching men. They simply raised their shields and kept marching forward, the fire got directed to the sides as it collided with the metal protection the soldiers held.

"What the hell" Madelina whispered in surprise.

"That's right queeny, not yours or your precious husbands powers is gonna help you this time.. If only you had pledged allegiance as all the other smaller kingdoms have done, we wouldn't need to be in this situation.. Blame your own stubbornness for this outcome.. GET HER, NOW!" he shouted as the queen turned and ran towards the front of the castle, hoping to get to her husband. They were always stronger together, which is why their military wasn't overly large compared to other kingdoms. Although the magic the royals possessed wasn't known to many, anyone who opposed them would soon figure out that the small kingdom of Giraldus had more military power than most. That all changed when a princess was born, and the southern king learned of the two hybrids that had been hiding in their castle, near the base of the Skymountain.

The soldiers were hot on her tail all the way to the throne room where the battle was intense. The king was holding back most of the soldiers alone, his royal cloak and his upper body was enveloped in lightning, light filled the room almost from the floor to the ceiling, and every enemy that dared to get close was struck by a lightning strong enough to instantly kill a full-grown bear. If only they didn't have shields similar to those the soldiers behind her had. They were being overrun. Just as she was about to reach her husband a stinging sensation hit her hip on the right side. As she looked down she saw the tip of a spear sticking out from her flesh.

' _NO! Please don't... Why am I seeing this?_ ' Anna fell to her knees next to, apparently, her mom.

"Aldus!" she shouted, he turned and barely managed to catch Anna as Madelina fell towards the floor, "Maddy! Nononono" he held Anna close and the royal guard that had warned them was at his king's side ready to take any arrow or spear thrown their way. The fighting stopped momentarily as a massive hole was ripped in the roof of the throne room, and electricity flew from the sky and down to the king, where it would rest on the surface of his skin, making him slowly crackle with power. When the guard shuffled around beside him he looked up to see a few of his own people standing in a protective circle around him and his family. They all looked to him as he stood up, his wifes blood had seeped into his left sleeve. As he looked around he could see they were clearly outnumbered, his guards saw the same. He eyed every one of them as they nodded, he ended up catching they gaze of the royal guard leader who stood proud in front of his king with his right hand flat against his heart, and he nodded.

"They may take our kingdom, but they will never take our pride as Giraldian soldiers. It's been an honor protecting you and your family my king.. FOR GIRALDUS!" he shouted, "FOR GIRALDUS!" the rest of the guards around him echoed. The king closed his eyes and held Anna in a strong grip as he released all the lightning inside him outward. His own guards, the Westergaardian soldiers, even those with magic-negating shields, vaporised in the blink of an eye. Wimarc who was the one to enchant the shields hadn't expected such power, but his own armor held up for the most part, his skin got burned from head to toe and he was flung back the hall he came from.

Panting and exhausted the king fell to his knees clutching a crying and screaming Anna to his chest, with only silence to greet him. His eardrums had ruptured, his skin had lightning-shaped burns all over, in some places it had outright split his skin. His eyesight was similarly burned away, but he still felt the warmth of his daughter against the skin of his neck. Until even that feeling went away, along with everything else.

' _Oh god please don't be dead, please please please... Please don't leave me_ ' Anna cried out.

By now Wimarc had caught his breath from the surprising knockback he had been struck by, and made his way to the only sound he heard. When he entered the throne room again he saw something incredible. From where the late king sat in the middle of the floor, the walls and ceiling was burned as lightning had skimmed across the inner surface of the castle, it extended as far the inner walls of the castle. Not a hint of burned flesh or even smoke was seen. He had simply erased everything around him. Wimarc smirked through his pain and let his eyes fall to the red-haired girl.

Anna didn't see anything else as her vision slowly faded.

* * *

"I thought you told us we could get out when we stopped?" Robert almost silently asked Jonas, their link had stopped working a short while after Anna had fallen asleep again.

"I didn't expect them to have an anti-magic cage you dumb idiot!".

"Then what do we do now?" Robert had to stop their petty argument. They had been at it for too long already, sitting at the two corners of the cage, furthest from each other, as if they were two huffy teenage girls. And that didn't get them out of the cage.

"Well.." Jonas said as he looked to Anna.

"NO! Don't even think about it, she was still shaking long after she fell asleep, didn't you see what she did? She was more animal than human, you guys really did a number on her" Robert jabbed.

"Listen, she's still a kid, but the vigorous training has toughened her up more than you think. As long as we can get her out of the cage, her magic should return to her, and then she can decimate these guards with a flick of her hand.. You know she is our biggest hope!" their voices was still hushed, but their squabbling was gradually growing louder with each sentence.

"I refuse to use her like that, I won't become the very same person she is running from" Robert stood his ground on this, and his face revealed that exact sentiment.

Jonas huffed and relented, "Fine, but then I only have one choice".

"Why didn't you say that earlier?!" Robert almost sounded surprised.

"It's not really something I feel like doing, but it seems as if we have no other choice if you won't let Anna handle this" Jonas looked away, trying not to think about what he had to do.

After that, Robert was only met with silence at every question he asked, or every sentence he uttered to Jonas. The other man in the cage had gone into a sort of trance and didn't even respond to physical touch. Robert, powerless and company deprived, turned to look at the town they had stopped at. Of course they had been parked directly outside the tavern, and every person who left or entered would either sneer, spit or thrown something at them. This town was definitely loyal to the south, even with the distance between them, and the Royals that owned the lands they lived on. So besides the people the town was really beautiful. The streets were clean, it smelled nice and the designs on the houses looked intricate, with swirls and flowers cut into the wood. Bright oranges and brown colors were dominant, and the floating lights inside glass cages on wooden pillars filled the streets with a soothing white-yellowish color. Laughing and singing could be heard from the tavern next to them, if they hadn't been prisoners this would actually be a fine town to live in. But alas, life was cruel and the Westergaardian soldiers was equally cruel.

The sound of two guards laughing with large cups of ale staggering out the tavern broke Robert from his spell. They zig-zagged their way over to the cage as they kept laughing. When they had made the short walk to the cage one of the men stared at Robert.

"Wha' 'r' y'o loo'ing at" he slurred out, his breath was laced with a heavy scent of ale. When Robert didn't answer, the second man spoke up "Oi, he ask-*hich*-ed you a question!" clearly not as drunk as the other one, but his eyes was slightly unfocused.

"Do you really think being drunk is a good idea when escorting such precious cargo to the king?" Robert cooly said.

"Whats it to you, dog!?" the second man said.

Before Robert had any time to reply as Anna jolted awake, "DAD!", she shouted and Robert almost jumped a little at the sudden movement.

"Hey, hey, you're okay, don't worry" he said as he placed a hand on her shoulder, but he quickly retracted it when the glove started freezing over.

"I-I had a vision.. or a dream.. I'm not sure.. I saw what I think was my parents.." Anna tried to remember every detail of her vision-dream, but as it is with dreams the images disappeared quickly after she awoke, only a few things stuck with her. More specifically the words, 'mother', 'daughter', and 'Giraldus'.

"Girl! Care to show us some of that slicing you threatened with?" the guard laughed out loud as he hunched over in laughter. Robert could swear he saw Anna's eyes flicker, the same way they had done when he first released her from the room underneath the mansion, as she glared holes in the one who spoke.

"You shouldn't give her any more reasons to hate you" the General said from the taverns front door, "Although it's not likely she will get out, in the case that she does I'm sure you'll drop dead a second after".

"Of course, sir" he tried standing straight but he was too drunk to properly accomplish it, as he swayed a bit on the spot.

"Now leave the pests alone and get to drinking boys! Tomorrow we'll travel to the garrison a little further south, we need more shields, just in case" he motioned them to come back in. And as the obedient soldiers they were, they followed orders. But not before giving Robert and Anna a look of disapproval. When they were gone Anna opened her mouth but closed it again, not sure if what she just saw was real or not, and not wanting to sound crazier than she must already look to him. She ended up asking anyway.

"Robert, what is.. what is Giraldus?" she asked timidly while looking down at her feet.

"It's a former kingdom located at the base of the Skymountain. Why do you ask?" he said calmly.

"I, uhm, it was said in my dream, along with mother, and daughter.. what do you know of the kingdom?" when she raised her head she saw Robert sitting with wide eyes and an unhinged jaw. After a few seconds of, nothing, from him she asked again.

"What do you know of it?" this time more firmly, he clearly knew something. The next thing he did was surprising, to say the least, to Anna. He propped a leg up, laid an elbow on his knee and ducked his head. That in itself seemed weird to Anna, if it wasn't followed by two small words.

"Your majesty" he said in an almost political tone.

"W-what?!" Anna was sure she had misheard him. But his next words couldn't be misheard.

"Queen Anna, I pledge my sword to you as I once pledged it to your father, my sword is yours, my life is yours, whatever you would require of me I will fulfill to the best of my abilities. All hail the Queen of Giraldus," when Anna didn't answer him he continued, "I'm sorry I didn't see it before my Queen, the last time anyone saw you was back when you were still a baby. I hope you can forgive me".

Anna was stunned into stillness, she didn't move or say anything. She just sat there, looking at Robert. How in the ever-loving fuck could she be queen. She hadn't foreseen this turn of events, so when she did move again she just sat down with her back against the metals bars letting the words sink in.

"Your majesty, are you okay?" he inquired. Again, Anna just sat still, not saying or doing anything, "I'm terribly sorry my queen, I hope I haven't overstepped my boundaries" he decided to stop there and just let it sit for a while. It took a couple of minutes for Anna to become animated again.

"How is that possible? I was always told all the kids were orphans found on the street" he thought it was a fair point, she was taken as a baby so of course she didn't have any memories of her parents.

"Everyone thought you were gone, alongside your parents. When the Westergaardians retreated after their rather, uhm, violent overthrowing of Giraldus, we never saw you again. All we saw was the king sitting on his knees alone in the throne room" he tried explaining without using words such as died and killed. As he explained, flashes of Anna's dream came back to her, and one thing stood out, the glowing of her parents eyes, and she had to know if that was true.

"Were they.. like me?" she finally managed to get out.

"Hybrids? Yes, they were. Some of the strongest I've ever seen, they were benevolent leaders, the kingdom was small, but prosperous. Everyone was properly fed, no one lived on the streets, and orphanages housed the kids without parents. All in all they did a fantastic job as rulers" he hoped that hearing good things about them would help ease the uneasiness she expressed. From the change in her posture he was successful.

"Well then we better set course for Giraldus as soon as we get out of here" she said in too calm voice and a determined fire in her eyes.

"What are we doing in Giraldus when we get out?" Jonas quipped, now out of his trance.

"Resurrecting a kingdom" Anna said as she looked to the sky. Jonas looked questioningly at Robert who had to stifle a laugh at Jonas' dumbfounded expression.

"Allow me to present you the last surviving member of the Giraldus family, in other words, the new Queen of Giraldus" he said as his mouth curled into a tiny smile.

* * *

 **Hey there again, I've been less than happy about my last chapter.. I think I should stop writing when I'm tired. This chapter on the other hand is in my own opinion a lot better, and it introduced Anna's parents, if only a little glimpse so far. I'm not a fan of entire chapters being flashbacks so i started out soft in that department. I hope that the quality of my chapters will improve as time goes on so you won't have to read the crap that is chapter 4, I'm not going to change it, because after everything is said and done, it still is my published writing and it is as it is, sorry about that.**

 **How did you like this chapter though? Too early to make Anna a queen?**

 **Edit: some typos and missing words, it annoyed the shit out of me so a small ~4-5 word edit.**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	7. Chapter 6

After they left the tavern they were taken straight to the garrison three hours further south. They only stopped to acquire some new metal before taking off again. So when the contingency of guards stopped next to get some fresh water and a bite to eat, Anna decided to strike up a conversation with Jonas.

"You're looking a bit pale there Jonas, you okay?" Anna asked the man slumping in the corner.

"I'm fine, haven't you ever seen people become white as ghosts before?" he joked, although the joke went right over Anna.

"Yeah I have, well good then, don't want you to kick it before we manage to escape" he chuckled but winced a bit, that of course, got noticed.

"Hey, be honest! What happened to you?" she asked but didn't move to help him. She didn't know if she could trust him or if everything was just an act, another test. Robert on the other hand expressed real fear, he was so damn easy to read to Anna, even when he was off in dreamland, he could be trusted. But Jonas was a snake in human form, too mysterious, too unknown.

"Hrmm, blood magic has its pros and cons. One of the positive things about it is the fact that it can be performed even in this cage. Have you noticed your magic hasn't returned to you?", he stopped and waited for an answer, "Yeah, I have actually", he nodded and proceeded explaining, "It has been about a day and a half by now, and you should have recharged but you haven't. Blood magic draws power from the life-force inside the blood. Yours draw on the nature around you, and this cage cuts you off from that. Fortunately, they can't cut me off from my own blood. But that is where the negative side of my magic shows itself. If I use the blood inside my veins without draining it from my body, it feels like acid is being pumped through my body, every nerve is boiling, my head feels three sizes too small, but it works in a pinch. Not many people know the fact that we can bypass any magic defenses, and I hope that trusting you with this will help you trust me." he offered a smile.

"Who says I don't trust you?" Anna asked in defence.

"Come on, I know your training made you an incredible fighter, but you don't know people like I do. Your body language when you talk to me, the way you avert your eyes when you make eye contact. It's all in the minor things, you're turned slightly away from me even now. Nothing you do shows trust, and with good reasoning I know. But I truly am on your side. Now you said you wanted to revive your kingdom, how do you want to accomplish that?" he raised a questioning eyebrow.

"I don't know really. Make my name known first. I am not expecting people to follow some unknown and foolish girl. But I have no idea how being a Queen works. And to tell you the truth, I'm not sure if I even want the title. I mean, from what I was taught, being a Queen is really boring, staying inside a castle all day every day. No thanks. Besides, my writing hand is presently absent, how am I ever going to write letters?" she chuckled as she held her right arm in front of her to emphasize her point.

"Hah, yeah you got a point." a moment of silence fell over the two, Robert was still fast asleep, and there was only a couple of soldiers in view, "Oh before I forget, how have you adjusted so fast to it? I still try to rub my shin where the sword were. But only realise that it's gone when I can't scratch the itch, and it's driving me crazy." He asked lightly as he scooted a little closer to Anna.

"I just filter it out I think?" she shrugged, as he got even closer.

"Do me a favor, lift your right arm again" he said as his expression turned serious, she did as she was told, "Now hold still", and she did.

Jonas looked around to check if anyone was looking their way, but after more than 24 hours of being around them none of the guards seemed to be afraid anymore. So Jonas had begun formulating a new plan, a very risky plan. For now he had to focus on Anna. He examined the ice, moving her arm around to see everything before acting. He had been curious about whatever magic that kept Anna from bleeding out, his own leg was crudely burned to stop the bleeding. Annas wound was different, the ice should have melted by now, the host had to be far away, and there are range-limits between user and magic.

"The ice have bonded to your flesh, see here and here" he pointed out the small icy vines that had crept up her arm and to the point where they disappeared, "and from what I can see it also healed the cut. So why is it still there?" he went off into his own world, speaking more to himself than to Anna. "There must be an explanation, think facts. Cold skin, we are in the colder half of the year and she's in a thin garb, she's perhaps a tad too cold. Lightened skin tone, loss of blood, easy. White strip of hair, magic, no doubt about it." he twirled the white strands once or twice, "Think, think, think." he began biting his nails, scratching at the back of his head, massaging his temples, and then, epiphany, "Have you felt the cold ever since you woke up in the cage?"

"N-no I haven't" she said quietly.

"I see, can you close your eyes for me please?", she complied and closed her eyes as she felt a hand on her forehead, "Good, focus on your own heartbeat and relax, listen to the rustling trees, feel the wind on your face".

She did as she was told, listening to every thump her heart made, to every leaf brushing against another, and the wind blowing in from the east. It was very relaxing, nothing she could remember felt like that, the south may be full of hate towards her kind, but this moment was extremely relaxing. Soon she began noticing different sounds, the light chirping of birds, the growling of dogs and a sharp clanging sound she knew all too well, swords colliding. She opened her eyes to see Jonas smirking at her.

"Great, seems like your power will return in a couple of hours, then we can bust out of here!" he said with enthusiasm.

"What? How?" she gasped, leaning a bit back from him in surprise.

"How do you think they made this cage? Never mind, don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question. They made it with magic", she interrupted, "They made anti-magic.. With magic? That doesn't make sense" she raised an eyebrow, "Yeah, how else do you think they did it? With hopes and dreams?" every word dripped with sarcasm.

"Hey, don't make fun of me, I don't know about this stuff" she defended.

"Sorry, sorry, that was a joke, no need to get all defensive. Anyway, yes. As I said, blood-magic has no need for the natural element to work, so I merely weakened it a bit, I tried to completely negate it but the one who made the enchants on it has some incredible skills. I have to say that I'm impressed, he must be a great mage" he was almost in awe of the skill it required to make a spell so dense and powerful.

"And then what? Robert doesn't want me to do anything, he's like an overprotective brother".

"Well that's not really up to him is it, my Queen?".

"No.. It isn't.. What do you want me to do then?" she asked the man with a plan.

"Do what you do best. Fight! Now sit there and meditate, we need you to gather as much magic as possible before we get to the next town, if we reach that we're dead." He warned her. And that was all it took to get Anna on board. She sat down and began her meditation.

* * *

"My King, are you sure that this is necessary?" Wimarc asked in surprise, he sat with a letter from his old master, she was an old lady living further up north near the border. In the letter it detailed the current state of the northern princess' powers. How they had developed, what they could expect if they went to war. But the most important part of it was the fact that she had told the girl to hide away, to keep her emotions suppressed. Which would slowly break the her, and when that happened, the north would no longer their biggest asset when war came knocking.

"Of course it's necessary, we need more power. Take whoever you want, I don't care how old they are or how young. Just make sure my armor is strong enough to withstand any magic thrown at me. I'm not going to say it again." the King ordered.

"Right away your majesty, I will report back when I'm done" Wimarc bowed and left his king's side, walking down the hallway towards his lab in the back of the castle. On the way he made a few stops to make sure he got the supplies he needed as fast as possible. In his lab he removed the old bodies he had already worked on, prepared a few tables and his tools. He then sat down at his desk and started working on a letter to his old master, lady Aurali. After a few minutes of scribbling his door opened up, multiple soldiers stood ready to receive orders, all of them in the colors of Westergaard, green and gold.

"Bring me more subjects, the King is growing impatient, he will not wait much longer before marching his armies into the north. We need to be ready to strike if anything goes wrong" he said, never looking at the men, but his voice carried authority almost equal to the King.

"Right away sir" the men said in unison.

* * *

Up north in the unclaimed lands between the Westergaard kingdom and the northern Union, the two siblings had made camp and sat by a small fire, trying to warm up. The sister didn't need it, but to the brother, snow and cold was undesirable. He was a big fan of summer and heat, just as his father.

Most of the time that had passed since they fled was spent in silence. Elsa wasn't normally talkative, but Kristoff hadn't been able to pry a single word out of her. And here they were, sitting in even more quietness.

"The sun is coming up soon, we should pack up and get going" Kristoff tried. Again.

Elsa didn't look at him but she stood and began packing up some of the food they hadn't eaten. After that, she saddled her horse and hoisted herself up, "Let's go then" she said in her regal voice, the one that was calm and emotionless. She spurred the horse to a slow walk allowing Kristoff to get ready without getting so far away that they lost track of one another. Kristoff taken by surprise at her sudden words stood stock still for a few moments before saddling his own horse, catching up to Elsa only a few minutes later.

"So she speaks again?" trying to lighten the dark mood that had enveloped Elsa, he figured it was from the blood and violence she had seen. But all Elsa cold think of was the girl they had left behind, she had told him she didn't blame him or herself. But she did blame herself, whenever she tried closing her eyes she saw the girls face. She saw the skin becoming lighter, she saw the strand of hair turn white. And her skin couldn't forget how the heat that dissipated from the redhead, she feared she had killed the girl by leaving her there. And the fear rooted itself deep within her heart.

She faintly heard Kristoff as he talked to her. Yet her mind was to preoccupied to even register what words he said to her. She couldn't bring herself to care right now, she just wanted to go home and lock herself up. Kristoff on the other hand grew more worried by the minute. His sister was closing herself off again, he could see it in her rigid posture and the lack of focus in her eyes.

She had done it once before. When Elsa was twelve years old, she accidentally froze one of the handmaidens and couldn't undo it. She had kept to her room for almost a year, before their parents had finally talked her out of her room. He couldn't let that happen again, even if he did think she was a bit crazy.

"Elsa, please talk to me, don't let it control you. You are the one who decides what to do, you are the one who controls the magic, it doesn't control you" he put a hand on her shoulder and she almost fell off the horse by the jerk she made from the contact.

"Do you hear me? You are in control, okay? Don't let it take over!" he said.

"I-I'm sorry, I was.. distracted" she managed to pry her mind from her wallowing, enough to actually talk to him.

' _You can do this Elsa, just talk to him. Beat yourself up later_ ' she thought to herself.

"Yeah i see that, are you sure you're okay?" he still had a hand on her shoulder and gave it a little squeeze.

"Yes, I'm fine. I think. But... I... I can't get her face out of my head. I killed her didn't I? Like I killed that handmaiden?" tears welling in her eyes, quivering voice and shaking.

"I wish I could tell you she's fine.. But I honestly don't know. I'm sorry.. Damnit, now I feel bad too" he averted his gaze to the road. He hadn't been thinking about the girl, but he certainly was after that.

"No, I'm sorry, I didn't want you to feel bad. But I just can't stop thinking about her. I really hope she is okay" she tried giving him a meager smile, but when she raised her head she could see his eyes looked a little glassy. She suddenly felt worse than before, now she had pulled her brother into her anxiety riddled thoughts.

"Hope is good. Hold it tight and never let go," he let his hand drop to the reigns, "Let's hurry up and into safe territories". With that said they both felt lighter, possibly a tiny bit happier. So they picked up their speed as the sun rose in the east, covering the woods in a bright orange glow. It was like the world told them that today would be a better day.

* * *

"I can't believe you agreed to do this" Robert crossed his arms and glared at Anna, he had been told of their plans, and that Anna would be the one to fight for them again. He wasn't usually the one to stand in the front of a fight. Not that he didn't know how to, but he was more at ease helping the ones who came back with wounds. And he had some remarkable skill in healing, if he was to believe what other people had told him.

"Wether you like it or not, Anna agreed to help get us out of here. By her own accord, there's no need to feel bad for 'using her' as you so eloquently put it" Jonas said.

"I'm still opposed to the whole fucking idea. She's eleven years old!" Robert exclaimed.

"Hey, I'm right here you know! Don't talk like I'm not!" Anna angrily voiced from her meditative pose.

"It's not like I don't know that! We're inside a small cage. It's been almost forty hours since we got thrown in here, I'm hungry as hell. I need to take a dump and now I have to rely on a little girl" he said in exasperation.

"You are not alone buddy, you are not alone" Jonas laughed and punched his shoulder.

"I told you guys to just get it over with, I'm not a delicate girl" Anna was tired of listening to complaints, being in such a small space with two grown men was exhausting. She had gone more than four days on multiple occasions without food, she knew that staying calm and conserving energy was the smartest move. She even shared that information, but the men weren't used to it as she was. So they just told her she was a smartass and kept up their bickering.

Jonas had tried to weaken the cage even more, with mediocre success. Anna had been meditating and could feel her powers again. And soon enough she would be strong enough to rip the cage door open and escape. She was hit with a solemn thought, ' _Is this what the world has in store for me, escaping and hiding?_ ' Soon she would be able to evaluate that on her own. Only thirty more minutes until freedom.

* * *

 **Hey there, a little on what is going on in the Westergaard castle, a little of what is going on with Elsa, and the lead to Anna and co.'s escape. Soo, yeah. Not much to say, just had to get this done to make room in my brain for some hopefully good ideas in your opinon.**

 **My day at work was slow today so my mind had time to run rampant and come up with some fights, some fluffy shit because holy fuck there's a lot of that in other Elsanna fics. Like a shitload of fluff and smut out there, guess that pulls some readers?**

 **On a sidenote I like that the few of you who have reviewed liked the fact that Anna is royal, thank your fellow reader. I was a bit on the fence with that one, and he pushed me in the right direction. I promise you that the cage is done in the next chapter, the adventure needs to begin. This slow start has simply helped me get some stuff under control with plot and whatnot.**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	8. Chapter 7

Robert and Jonas sat furthest from the entrance to the cage, getting ready to rush out of there and run. For the last three minutes Anna had been holding her left hand on the door. She knew that as soon as she forced it open the fighting would begin.

' _Deep inhale, slow exhale. Deep inhale, slow exhale. Let the training guide you. Just like you have always done it_ ' she thought to herself, repeatedly.

"You ready?" she asked Robert.

"Yeah, we're ready" the said at the same time.

Anna took her last breath, closed her eyes as they glowed, she felt her muscles being empowered. She knew that her control was less than stellar, and that she only had enough magic to fight for a couple of minutes. She dug her feet into the planks and pushed against the cage-door. The metal started ringing from the force, bending the bar she had in her grip outward, followed by a loud clang from the hinges where they were fastened. The door was

"GENERAL!" the closest soldier yelled as he pulled the sword from his scabbard and spurred his horse into a gallop towards the escapees.

Anna had jumped down and felt the snow-covered ground give away under her feet as she sprinted forward, all the men had their swords drawn now. Anna was between the cage and the horse. Behind the man on the stallion were six men ready to fight, to her right four men had dropped from their saddles and drawn their shields. To her left, three guys had done the same. In the front where the General was the last eight soldiers was ready to fire crossbows at Anna. Everyone of them had their eyes on her, the priest and the blood mage was a minor threat compared to the monster they had to face.

With each step Anna took she could feel the rush of power coursing through her, every nerve, every tiny hair on her body tingled with anticipation. This was what she knew best, for three years she was forced to hurt others, for three years she was alone, for three years she hated fighting. But for those three years she never had something to fight for other than herself, now she had a friend, by extension a family to protect. And she had Jonas, still undecided if he was a friend or foe.

Everything slowed down, she was ready to unleash her inner demons once again. And she was going to make damn sure these guys wasn't going to see the next sunrise. As she got closer and closer to the charging horse she felt that feeling again, a satisfying hatred. Hatred for the hooded men, hatred for the kids, and hatred for everything Westergaard. She was now a few feet from the horse and in under a second the fighting would truly start. Well, fighting for them, massacre for her.

The man had initiated a swing for her head, she ducked under the swing, grabbed the left hind leg on the horse and turned. She pulled as hard as she could, actually managing to stop the charge, even pull the horse multiple feet backwards, making the rider tumble forward. The six men behind him was her next targets, she moved faster than the men could react to. The first two were gone in matter of seconds with a blow to the stomach and chest, the other four saw it all and stopped advancing.

"GET HER!" the general shouted to his men, they had lost their focus for a split second and that was enough for Anna to hit them with a dense blast of magic. Throwing them fifteen yards or so backwards. The crunching of bones when they got hit was loud enough to hear over the rumbling sounds of footsteps approaching. It brought her a sick kind of joy hearing it. She heard the men getting closer and turned around, she honed in on the man who had tossed them into the prison. The general. Fury flashed in her eyes as they started glowing brighter than before, a low growl emanated from her throat.

Robert, along with Jonas kept to the cage, everything had happened faster than they expected. As Robert had tried helping Jonas out. Jonas had pulled him back, shaking his head. He had felt it safer inside a cage where her magic had a lower chance of getting to them. And seeing as none of the guards paid them any attention, Robert had let himself be pulled back. Her eyes had been their main focus, especially to Jonas. He knew something was up with her, but he hadn't expected to see two different colors in them. One white, one purple.

"You!" Anna said as she lunged straight ahead, the men pulled their shields in front of them. Anna smirked and brought her fist into the first man she encountered. The shield was made to protect from external magic, not for brute strength protection. Like the man she had hit in the mansion, the shield bent and tossed him backwards into another one standing behind him. To her right a sword was aimed straight for her. She twisted out of the way and grabbed his arm, her leg pulled up and her right foot hit the man in the shoulder. As she applied more force to his arm and ripped it off, the man screamed in agony. Anna picked up his sword and she was surrounded.

To Anna missing half an arm was proving to be a hindrance during a fight, it made her feel off-balance. Especially now that she was faced with soldiers standing all around her. The one standing directly behind her saw his opportunity to strike, he brought his sword down in a fast motion towards the redhead standing in the middle of their circle. Barely registering but once again dodging it. She stumbled as her magic induced strength waned slightly, it made a window where three swords was slashed in her direction, one of them struck her leg and cut her pretty severely.

She fell to her knees and grit her teeth. Pain wasn't an unusual thing to her, but this was the only time it could cost her, her life. The general had advanced into the circle and tried to stab her in the chest. Her instincts were faster than her brain and she lifted her right hand to block the sword, her mind knew her hand was missing, but her muscle-memory hadn't adapted to this fact yet.

' _Shit, I'm dead!_ ' she thought as she closed her eyes, but the sword never made contact. When she opened her eyes she was as surprised as the general holding the sword. Where her hand had been before, there was now a remake of it made from the purest ice, with a sword through the palm of it. As the frost crept across the metal, the wielder let go and took a step back. An intense cold radiated from the newly acquired hand Anna had, everyone's eyes was focused on the icy appendage. Even the general stopped completely in his tracks, and the temperatures plummeted around the redhead.

It took exactly two seconds to go from cold, to frigid, to absolute flesh numbing freezing. Not even the shields could block it. They were made for blasts and directed magic, but when even the moisture in the air froze, the shields was of very little help. The hair on everyone crusted over. The men in the imminent vicinity of Anna could feel their eyes freeze along with the skin on their faces. No soldier moved an inch, not because they didn't want to, they couldn't. Their muscles and clothing was devoid of any movement.

Anna was out of her reverie by now and blinked a few times, she pulled the sword out of her hand and winced as it was fully pulled out. 'It hurt?... The ice hurt?... My hand is ice? What the fuck!', she turned it around and she looked on as the hole in the palm closed itself. She tried wiggling a finger, it responded. 'Holy. Shit. This is strange... It's ice.. ICE!'. She saw what happened around her when she was done marveling at the weirdness, she scrambled backwards when her eyes met frozen men, then she looked to the cage. She gasped in fright, inside the cage there was frost, not as intense as outside it but it was there. Robert and Jonas were shivering, teeth clattering, arms hand hands creating friction to warm them up. It enveloped everyone on the field. She had no control of it, she tried to stop it but luck seemed to have taken a day off. And Jonas noticed the fear building in her body.

"It's just magic Anna, you can do it!" he said a little louder than normal talking.

"I DON'T KNOW HOW!" She exclaimed.

"Then.." he shut his eyes, racking his mind for ideas, trying to think of anything, "..use every ounce of magic you have left, without any magic inside you the ice has nothing to draw power from".

Anna nodded and let every last drop of magic flow from the back of her neck, through her shoulders and into her arms. She pushed it out of her body, and into the forest with a loud explosive like sound, levelling a large chunk of trees and freezing the barren ground the wave left behind. Then she flopped backwards on the ground, panting and heaving for air. At least she didn't pass out this time around. The ground and the men defrosted. They didn't survive. Their hearts had stopped, and didn't start again upon heating up.

Jonas put his arm around Roberts shoulder when warmth returned to him, and they made their way to Anna. She was clutching a hand to her head and her nose and ears was bleeding profusely, covering her cheeks and ears.

"Are you okay little one? You gave me quite a scare, but we need to get out of here" Robert told her.

"I know, I know.. Just.. Give me a minute.. My head is killing me" she panted.

"That ruckus is going to attract people. People we don't want to find us. We don't really have a minute." Jonas stated matter-of-factly.

"Just give her a damn minute, without her we would be hanging in the gallows in a weeks time, beheaded if we were lucky"

Jonas sighed and let the subject drop, he had never felt the exhaustion a user felt when they depleted their reserves, but he had heard stories. According to the stories it was an immense pain that made a migraine look like nothing in comparison.

Anna regained some of her bearings and stood, "Let's go, you're right, we need to get out of here.. Are there any horses left?" she questioned.

"Some of them ran towards the town, I didn't see where the rest went. And then there is the ones that got caught in the crossfire. Oh and Anna?" Robert said.

"Yeah, what?"

"Well done" he patted her head and scruffed her hair.

"Don't do that again" she commanded.

"Sorry, reflex. You remind me of my daughter, she's also a strong kid" he smiled.

"Do you want us to go and check in on them? Assuming..." she didn't finish the sentence, "I'm sorry.. I didn't mean to.. What I'm trying to say is.." she was at a loss for words and suddenly her feet was very interesting.

"You don't think we planned for something like this? They left for Corona, in the north, the moment i went to get you out.. And by the way", she looked up at him, "You suck at comforting people" the men laughed in unison.

"That.. was mean, I don't have a lot of practice with people" she huffed, "Let's go to Giral-..".

"No, we go east" Jonas interrupted.

"What's in the east?" Anna asked in confusion.

"Escain, the land I grew up in. We'll go find a clan of blood-mages, they can help us figure out what to do about this, new power, you seem to have very little control over" Jonas pointed at her still shivering a small bit, "Now move. You got your minute".

* * *

"You mind? I know you like the cold but this is too much" Kristoff said, he could feel his lungs having a hard time breathing in the cold air.

"It's.. it's not me" Elsa said as her magic flared, she calmed it with success. The cold turned to its normal wintery temperature Kristoff could handle.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I have no idea, maybe it's the changes the old lady talked about?" She tried reasoning. Only to feel it growing ten seconds later, this time her eyes reacted as well, glowing the pure white color of snow.

"Kristoff, get away from me. NOW!" Elsa was not able to hold the magic back for long.

He saw what was happening, the horse beneath her had frozen, and he didn't need to be told twice to get the hell away from his sister. He kicked his heels into the side of his race bred mare and took off, when he was far enough away Elsa lost her hold on it in. As he looked back to his sister a flash of white light filled his vision. Around her everything froze over in the blink of an eye, and then it was over, as soon as it had started.

' _This must be a side-effect of her growing abilities_ ' he thought.

He turned the animal around and slowly trodded back to his sister, from afar she looked fine, but upon closer inspection the chest region of her disguise was covered in blood. It made Kristoff ride faster, he needed to get to her side, she was swaying a little and was on her way to falling of the ice sculpture between her legs. He wasn't in time to catch her, so she tumbled to the ground and landed with a soft thud. A groan escaped through her lips and Kristoff was at her side faster than a hound chasing a rabbit. He lifted her by the shoulders, the chill caught him by surprise. Which is saying something, considering his sisters skin was always cold.

"Oh my god, you got blood all over Sis.." concern was written all over his face.

"Don't worry, I'll just freeze it and make it dissipate" she waved her hand, but nothing happened, "Kris, my magic. It's not working" she gasped, sat wide-eyed, covered in blood.

"I don't know what the hell is going on with you. But this is serious Els, we need to get the trolls to check on you again"

"NO! No more trolls, I know how to fix this, the old lady told me how to. Let's just.. Let's just get back home. Now"

"Whatever you say Sis" his concern turned to a light annoyance, she shouldn't let something like this slide. He knew his sister well enough, and she had never refused help from the trolls before. And now she was listening to some old lady who supposedly, which was the important word, knew everything about hybrids. Reluctantly he helped her up on his mare and they left the frozen scene behind them.

* * *

Wimarc was on his way through the halls to send his letter with a carrier pigeon when a servant ran up to him.

"A letter, for you sir" Wimarc took the rolled piece of paper, it had a black ribbon on it. It was a bad omen, nothing good is written in a letter with a black ribbon around it. When he had a hold of it the servant let go, bowed and ran back the way he came from.

The enchanter let out a deep breath and prepared for the bad news, whatever it was it wouldn't be good. And he was right. He read the contents and felt anger well up inside him, their project was destroyed, the explosion had happened sooner than anticipated, a lot sooner. A general had gotten there on the command of Aurali and taken three prisoners. A girl from the project, Jonas and a priest. They had left the mansion about two days ago and would be arriving in just under eight days.

Furious with this information, Wimarc let a black mist swirl around him. The stone walls shook and every servant in the area left with quickened feet. No one wanted to be caught up in his outrage. Come into contact with it and your flesh eroded, only your bones would be untouched. Wimarc was seething, all he had worked on for the last 30 years. Up in smoke, all because of an old man, wanting to teach his son a lesson. A lesson that had cost him his life, and subsequently the most advanced magic that had been seen since the first mage was born. Now all he had was a single one of the kids, and he couldn't lose her too. So he sat out to bring her back himself, on his way back to his office he turned a corner and bumped into the king's son, Hans.

"Oh Wimarc, I didn't see you there.. You alright?" Hans smirked when he saw Wimarcs angry expression turn to a delighted one.

"Hans, how nice to bump into you like this. I was just about to ask your father to allow me to bring you with me" Wimarc bowed his head in curtsy.

"Uuh, what are you planning this time?" his smirk grew.

"Nothing in particular. Just a little witch hunt for a certain young girl" Wimarc said.

"Am I right to assume that this young girl is one of your.. investments?" to this Wimarc chuckled.

"You would assume right, yes" and Hans' grin had never been more serene.

"Good, I've been meaning to test out this power you've given me" he held out his hand and let a similar black mist cover his palm.

Hans along with Wimarc walked to Wimarcs office and packed a bag of different herbs, powders and scrolls. In another bag they packed several surgical tools and tubes together with some lower-class clothing. When all was ready they left for the throne room to notify the king of their plans. It wasn't necessary but respect commanded them to at least tell the King, that they would be indisposed for an unknown amount of time.

* * *

 **Hey there, again. Irregular updates caused by a lack of patience.. When I get done with a chapter I just run it through a spellcheck program and post them. Now that the story has been "established" I feel it's easier to keep writing. I've never written something with a plot really, so I hope that my idea for this story is going to be something people want to read. If not, meh, it still is quiet fun for me :D**

 **People I've shown this to and two readers have adressed Annas possible lack of ability to rule.  
We'll see what happens to her and her title later on so if you are one of those people then rest easy, it will be adressed at some point. Not gonna say when but it will.**

 **I actually never expected this to even get 1 follower, so to a complete amateur 16 followers and 9 favorites is heartwarming, and I hope that it's showing in my attempt at using a broader vocabulary :) Also the reading-level isn't as advanced as I would like, but I'm trying, I just don't want to use words I can't use properly :)**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	9. Chapter 8

The company of three had a hard time travelling, Anna's leg injury was fine, it got frosted over shortly after the fight. But Robert could only help Jonas walk for a certain amount of time before having to rest. On top of that they had to avoid the main roads, and moving through the dense forest hindered their travel speed immensely. Although along the way, Anna got to smell the fresh air and see all the things she had only read about. At first she was ecstatic. The crisp smell of winter was intoxicating to her, but when the first week of the second month since her escape rolled by she started getting some intense recurring nightmares. It was always the same, the same dream-vision of her parents death. And it took a toll on her, everything else she had been subjected too she had been able to fight through. But this pain wasn't physical or mental, it just hurt, and it proved hard to overcome. She couldn't exactly get used to it the same way she did with other hardships. She ended up sleeping less and less, and practicing her magic when the others were asleep. The late nights and early mornings had bad side-effects. She began getting short blackouts and a constant dizziness enveloped her mind.

She knew the extreme changes she had gone through in such a short amount of time was a major factor. But then again, it was only temporary she told herself. So her focus and energy was pointed towards hunting, gathering during day and setting up and taking down the camp at night. She kept herself busy with other things and pushed her worries aside.

She had also talked a lot with Jonas and Robert about her plans. At first she was reluctant to go East instead of north, to her 'home'. But after some back and forth discussions she had been convinced that her role as Queen could wait a few months, if need be even years.

During the past week the weather started changing from winter to spring, the sun would peek through the clouds for longer and longer periods of time. Both Robert and Jonas reveled in it, but for Anna and her newly acquired body temperature, it was bad. She constantly struggled with keeping her body cold enough to stand it, and at the same time not releasing too much energy to hurt the people around her. Her magic would fluctuate erratically, at random intervals. When Jonas or Robert would ask her if she was okay, she would just shrug it off and keep it to herself. Jonas seemed to be convinced as he never inquired further. But somehow Robert could see right through her act, she could see it in the way he looked at her, as if it pained him that she wouldn't open up about it. Yet he chose not to say anything. Why he could read her so easily was a perk of being a father she guessed.

And here they finally were, at the large river splitting Sasmain from Escain, but the bridge was heavily guarded. Apparently the amount of guards had been tripled since Jonas had been there last, and the King had even subjected a good amount of mages to keep it safe. Under the threat of being dispatched they had reluctantly agreed to help at the borders and crossings, not that they had much choice with their collars on. They were sitting a good distance away from the bridge they had to cross. They had to come up with a different way to get past the guards, Anna had tried freezing a part of the river for them to cross, but the current broke it away before she could manage to complete her icy walkway.

"What are we gonna do about the mages and warlocks at the crossing?" Robert asked Jonas, who clearly had more knowledge about it than he had.

"Hmm, let me think about that for a moment, meanwhile. I want you to give Anna this and tell her to put it on, don't think I haven't noticed her eye going haywire every once in a while. Can't have them see her like that, you know the rules. They would never allow a hybrid to roam freely" He pulled forth a crude eyepatch, and held it out to Robert, who laughed at the piece of leather and how Anna would look like if she put it on. A real life child-pirate.

"Yeah, you don't have to tell me. But do you honestly think this will be enough? I mean, I've witnessed mind reading first hand, how to hell are we gonna trick someone like that? Robert worried, until recently he didn't even know mind reading was a thing, and if the southern royal family were just a little bit smart they would be dead within minutes if they got caught again.

"Yeah, it'll be enough, and the mind reading is a very rare skill. Only a few people know how to do it, the chances of running into one down there is very slim" Jonas replied pointedly.

Robert nodded and took the small piece of leather, he walked the short distance into the woods where Anna sat in the shade of a rather large tree. Looking a little paler than usual Robert could feel his paternal side flare up, the need to protect and care for the kid in front of him.

"Anna, you hanging in there?" he tried sounding casual, but it came out a bit strained as he closed the distance between them.

"Huh? Oh yeah, I'm fine, just a little warm" she weakly waved him off as if it wasn't a big deal, as she opened her eyes in the same weak manner to look at him.

"I'm starting to get a bit worried. You can tell me if something is wrong, you know that right?" he didn't try sounding casual this time letting worry show on his features. He lifted a comforting hand to lay on her shoulder. But before he could get close Anna scrambled away from him with fear in her eyes.

"PLEASE DON'T" she yelled and protected her face with her left hand.

"Hey hey hey, it's just me little one. Tell me what's wrong" Robert exclaimed as he pulled his hand back. He didn't really know Anna that well, but her personality was a little.. off.. lately.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-I'm sorry.. I thought I saw.. Nevermind" she looked away from him and to the ground, why had she just done that? She didn't even know herself, all of a sudden she just felt panic-y, and, scared? A feeling she wasn't used to, normally nothing really scared her, but for some reason the thought of getting physically close to anyone frightened her. And why did she see her mothers killers face on Robert? She shook it off, it was most likely just sleep deprivation, or something.

"It's okay, just tell me what's going on, I can- We can help you get through this, you're not alone" This time Robert didn't try getting close to her, he figured that keeping his distance was the right thing to do for the moment.

"I can't, I'm sorry. Maybe some other time" she weakly said, and she wondered why she couldn't just tell him. He already knew something was up with her, but probably not about it showing up every time she closed her eyes.

' _What the hell is going on with me? I don't normally act like this._ ' Anna thought to herself, not knowing heads or tails in what was happening to her. Ever since she got that stupid ice power she hadn't felt like herself, not fully. She had used another personality to hide away from the bad stuff before, but this was different. This time she didn't want to hide away, she was finally out in the world, the company might not be the best but it was at least a hundred times better than what she had experienced before. Yet she still felt like she was slowly changing into someone else. Someone she couldn't recognize, and she didn't like it.

"Uhm, I don't want to ruin the moment but I think I know how to get past the guards. It might be a little risky though" Jonas got a stern look from Robert, and no eye contact from Anna. "What? The faster we get to my clan-mates the faster we can fix Annas, uhm.. how do I put it.. problem" he lightheartedly added trying not to falter under Roberts gaze, they didn't really have the luxury of freedom right now.

"Of course, what do we need to do?" Anna stood and braced herself against the tree, feeling a little light-headed, but she had to focus. No time to waste, Jonas was right.

"First, get your eyepatch on, when we get into Escain we have to go into some towns to establish contact with my clan, we can't just waltz our way to them. The location is.. well, pretty unique" he smirked, intentionally leaving out where they kept their base of operations.

"What? Eyepatch?" Anna tilted her head slightly.

"Oh right, here" Robert fumbled a little but then held it out to her, Anna swiftly took it without a word and put it over her left eye.

"No no no, other eye" Jonas said while rolling his finger around in the air. And Anna complied.

"So what is the plan?" She asked when she had put on the eyepatch.

"Do you think you can create a leg for me the same way you have made your hand?".

"What good would that do?" Anna crossed her arm, not liking the idea of using her powers on Jonas.

"Well, the guards will look for a little girl, a one-legged man and a priest. But we will go as two guards and a captive street urchin. Like I said, risky, but I think it just might work with these idiots, from what I could see they are mostly human guards and the mages are not looking confident. So I believe it can work, that is if you can control your abilities of course?" Jonas lifted his eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"Nope, not gonna happen, what if I freeze you? What if they figure it out? I know I've killed people, but only because we would otherwise die, and I don't want to accidentally take your life. Oh, please don't make me do this, I know we haven't gotten along very nicely, but you're one of the only ones I know who hasn't demanded things from me. And-and" Anna had to stop, she could feel her lungs close up, her breath was shallow and the world started spinning.

Rober deftly took a step forward and caught Anna before she fell to the ground. His face contorted into something akin to fear mixed with a large splash of worry, "Wouh, you are seriously not okay, we need to rest before we do anything else, please." Robert pleaded, he couldn't put her under anymore strain for the moment. Annas complexion got paler by the second.

"Urgh, listen Priest. Your humanitarian side has to take a step back, we have no idea how many people are after us. The King would have had plenty of time to strengthen his soldiers at every hold in the country. And just over there, on the other side of the river, his forces are considerably less organized and less influenced by his propaganda. We need to get there, today!" Jonas said in a slightly infuriated tone.

"Well listen, Bloodmage. We won't get anywhere if Anna collapses in the middle of going through the checkpoint. What do you think will happen then? We'll get slaughtered, and Anna will be taken to another facility. Unless you plan to take on the twenty or so soldiers on by yourself. I say we sit back just until nightfall. If you don't like it then tough luck, but that's what is going to happen!" Robert snapped back in anger that took Jonas by surprise.

Robert had a point though. Jonas' own desire to get back to his homeland may have skewed his decision-making a little too much. And now that he actually looked, really looked, at Anna, he could see why Robert adamantly defied him. She was not looking good and even Jonas had to admit that waiting for the darkness to fall would be the better option.

"Alright, alright. We wait for the sun to set. Make sure you get some sleep Anna" Jonas indifferently said before he semi jumped back to the edge of the forest to survey the checkpoint and the guards shift schedule. Just because he agreed with the older man didn't mean he had to be nice. Pretty soon they wouldn't be forced to spend every waking moment together, and Jonas couldn't wait. They had been arguing almost daily, Robert and him was not a good match, but nevertheless, they had both sworn loyalty to Anna. For different reasons of course, but that didn't change the fact that they would both do whatever she would ask of them when she would take up the crown. For now Anna was content with them just helping her to the people that could enlighten her on the matter of her abilities.

When Jonas had been gone for a minute or two Anna raised her head to look at Robert and in apprehension voiced her concern about going to sleep, temporarily overcoming the fear of telling him she felt mere minutes.

"I don't feel like sleeping" she said in a small voice more fitting of a young girl than her normal confident voice was.

"Why would you not want to sleep? You look like a wreck... Wait, you haven't slept for these three weeks we've been travelling?" Roberts surprise was clear as day, all the times he had asked about her well-being and she had brushed it off when she was obviously not okay, was because she didn't sleep at night?

"I.. Uhm, I've tried.. They keep being taken away from me.. I was fine before I knew.. What I mean is.. I'm not fine but.. I think I was better off not knowing about.." she timidly ended on the verge of tears while clutching his shirt tightly, even talking about it made her blood run cold. Well, colder.

"Oh, I'm so sorry sweetheart" was all Robert could think to say before wrapping Anna in a comforting embrace. He started stroking her hair and whispered words of comfort until he could feel her breathing become steady and her grip on his clothes loosen. She had finally fallen asleep despite her reluctance. Not weird considering how exhausted she must've been. Robert kept holding her for hours, foregoing his own need for sleep in favor of hers, she needed it a lot more than he did.

* * *

In Arrendelle the siblings had been back for seventeen days. On the first day home Elsa ran directly to her parents and wrapped them in a tight hug. At first they had been utterly dumbfounded before they noticed her skin was warm, she was sweating, even a little smelly. Three things Elsa definitely wasn't the last time they had seen her. After their initial confusion they had thrown their arms around her and hugged back just a fiercely.

"Mom, Dad.. My powers are gone, I can finally touch people, I can finally have the life I always wanted" she sobbed into Agnarr's shoulder.

"Oh.." Iduna exclaimed in a tiny shock, she wasn't expecting that at all. They had sent her to get them under control, not to make them go away. As happy as she was for her daughter, the fact that they were gone had to be kept a secret.

"Oh? Don't you see mom, I can finally get close to other people, I don't have to keep to myself anymore." Elsa happily said, with a massive smile on her lips.

Agnarr took it upon himself to tell her, "Yes, it truly is a great thing, but we can't tell anyone, wait, let me finish" he held up his and when Elsa pulled away in disbelief and was about to open her mouth, "we both know how much you wanted this, but the politics of our world is strained, there are multiple countries that would consider war to take our lands if they found out. We would never send you out to fight of course. But just the fact that your powers are.. I'm sorry.. were so incredible, acted as a deterrent towards that sentiment. If they found out now, then we would be en a lot of trouble. Especially with the information we have gotten from the south.." Iduna nudged him with an elbow and hissed, "Agnarr!".

"What about the south dad?" Kristoff asked in his most royal voice, which meant he wouldn't let this go until they told him. Agnarr sighed and cleared his throat to give him a second or two to gather his thoughts before answering.

"Well, according to our spies they have finally managed to create a kid like Elsa. And from what we've been told they have the same powers as her. I don't think they will stop at one kid, imagine what ten, or twenty people with Elsa's strength could do. We would get decimated before our own vanguard could take them out. We have to keep this a secret." He tried explaining the best way he could to get his point across, he knew Kristoff could be bit thick-headed on these matters.

But neither Kristoff or Elsa reacted the way he had expected, they shared a quick glance before they both muttered some form of acceptance.

"What now?! I know my own children well enough to know when something is up, and this is one of those times. You better come clean right away" the tone practically screamed, mother you don't want to defy even if your life depended on it.

Kristoff scratched the back of his head "Uhh, well you see.. Uhm, we were actually on our way home.. And then, uh, we saw this explosion," Idunas eyes widened a bit but she kept quiet "and I took off to see what was going on." Elsa finished for her brother.

"On the way there I felt this pull from inside the mansion that had blown up. When I got inside there was a young girl. She couldn't be more than a couple of years younger than me, but the resigned look in her eyes compelled me to help her. She sat with her eyes closed, ready for the pillar that was headed directly for her, and without thinking I tried stopping it, but I wasn't strong enough, so the pillar continued it's path," Iduna gasped and placed a hand over her heart, "I had managed to knock it slightly to the side with a pillar of ice, but her hand got caught anyway. And-and, I cut off her arm per her request" a single tear rolled down her face when she recounted the tale, "I carried her out behind the mansion after I had created a layer of ice on the wound. When i finally got out, her eyes glowed, she was like me, but the glow disappeared.. I don't know if she made it after Kristoff pulled me away. There was guards coming our way and we had to leave. I'm not sure if it was the right choice to leave her but I didn't know what to do" she looked down and clasped her hands in front of her ready for a scolding. But all that came was another tight embrace.

"Oh sweety, that was incredibly brave of you.. I don't approve of you using your powers in a country we are on such bad terms with. But I'm proud of you" came a hoarse voice from her father, even he had gotten moved by his daughters heroics. Kristoff felt like he had to join the hug.

When they ended the hug the parents ushered their kids to the dining hall and had food brought in for them, during the dinner Elsa told more about what she had seen happen to the girl, but they reacted the same way Kristoff did. They just couldn't believe it, and no matter what she said, they were sure it was just shock that had made her see things. So despite the touching reunion, Elsa went to her room more agitated than relieved about coming home. And when sleep finally found her all she dreamt about was the pale girl, her fiery red hair and the single white stripe, she had left behind some three weeks ago. The same thing she would see for the next long while when she turned in for the night.

* * *

Hello peeps, so sorry about this incredible delay. I never imagined having such a hard time getting this to flow at least a bit better than my first three drafts, I now know why real writers have a hard time writing good books. Tossing words into the keyboard isn't the way to write it seems. So I've actually had a hard time getting started with the actual "adventure" Anna is embarking on. I see the first chapters up to this to be the intro, if I can call it that. And if I have to write out the next 4 years without time jumps the story would be a behemoth at the end, so expect some skips here and there.. Unless you wanna see Anna grow into the hero/villain, (depending on your point of view) she's going to become. I think I could wring out some situations that would push her towards her goal, or I could save some of it for her to tell Elsa about if you want to get to the Elsanna part a bit faster.

Also to be honest I think I might have bitten off a bit more than I could chew, writing coherent scenes is more difficult than I had imagined. So I'm sorry if anything at any point doesn't make sense, if that's the case, please tell me so I can rectify my mistakes :)

And last but not least, as always-

Love Mr. Turtle


	10. Chapter 9

When the moon had risen on the sky Jonas was curled in on himself against a tree, and Robert had slumped to the side laying on the ground. Anna had been wrapped close against him when she awoke. It had taken some maneuvering to avoid stirring him from his sleep, but she managed. She had gone to the end of the forest and sat cross-legged and close-eyed for almost an hour before Jonas had hobbled up next to her.

"Have you managed to come up with a safe plan yet?" he asked groggy.

"Not really, how about you?" she asked still with her eyes closed.

"Amazingly, no. I usually don't come up empty-handed, but I also used to have both of my legs. Making plans that takes my new predicament into account have proved difficult."

"Tell me about it," she raised her icy hand to the moonlight, making it scatter the light like a crystal ball, "I know I said it wasn't a big deal, but the more I use it the more weird it is to me. It works exactly the same way as my original hand, and at first I thought it was a little awesome. But I'm afraid that it has some major downsides, it feels like it's doing something bad to me." She lowered the ice to her lap, "I feel disconnected, from my emotions. And I know that emotion is a large part of the magic in our world." She said while poking the frozen fingers with her other hand.

"You're right about that, and I think you're right. It does interfere with your own powers. I can feel the change in your aura."

"Why do you think that is?" she asked, thinking he maybe had some answers.

"Hmm, it's still just a theory and I might be wrong. But so far you haven't really been allowed to be a carefree child. You've been held captive for so long and from such a young age. You never really showed any emotion since the others turned on you, and before that you were probably too young to even understand the impact it would have on your future. So between 'Athena' and now you have bottled everything up, you have taken on the hatred of many people without ever really knowing why they hated you. You've been tortured and experimented on. You've been treated poorly, like you weren't worth anything more than the broken table in your room. You have been exposed to negative emotions all you life. And then someone comes by and opens up to you, gets you to feel hope, a positive, something your magic is unfamiliar with." he paused for a moment to find the right words, "I'll explain it simply. You emotions and your magic goes hand in hand, when you're angry, so is your magic. When you're sad, so is your magic. When you're happy... You get the point. But what if your emotions and your magics emotions weren't on the same wavelength?"

"So if I'm not in balance with it, I have no control or what? Is magic like my soul then?" Anna asked in confusion.

"No, not like a soul, more like a 'something' that lives inside you and works on another plane of existence. The theory is that the magic inside us are living entities, and it goes through the same changes we do. Throughout the years you've always had a rather unique quality to your magic, making it easy to pinpoint. At the mansion when I saw you lying on the ground behind it, I felt another source of magic deep within you, at first I chalked it up to some latent power you had. But as the days went on I felt them merge. Until I couldn't feel either of them, they became one, something new. As to why or how this happened, I'm at a loss, but I'm certain my clan will know more." His expression during it all had changed from indifference, to sadness, and ending in determination.

Throughout Jonas' explanation Anna felt some warm, calm stirring in her heart, as if this 'something' heard Jonas and soothed her, perhaps agreed with his words. Even if Anna's mind couldn't really comprehend every bit of it, she understood. When she had nothing and was forced to fight the other children her magic was strong and controlled. When that magic had been disturbed by this new force it had gone to shit. She had noticed the change but didn't know what it was, only Jonas' observation gave any semblance of answer. Even if none of them knew if he was right or wrong, the magic reacted positively to the words. And it showed physically on Anna, around the small strand of white in her hair more of it started fading from red to snow-white, and the sight made Jonas' eyes widen and his jaw hung slack. When it stopped at the tips he managed to rid himself of his dazed state.

"Anna, your hair." was all he said as he pointed to the top of Anna's head.

"What about it? Are you gonna make fun of my unrul..." her words caught on her throat as she pulled it into her field of vision, only to see that more of her red locks had switched over to this new color that didn't clash as much against her pale skin.

"Hmm, I actually kind of like it" she said with a bit of red covering her cheeks. Annas reaction to her innocent confession made Jonas chuckle and broke the seriousness of the topic.

"Is that so? Maybe when you're older you can find a sweet boy with the same color then?"

"Eww, no! Boys are gross!" Anna quickly defended, crossing her arms and pouting while looking away from Jonas. This turn of events brought Jonas' chuckle into a full-blown laughter.

"Am I - gross too - then?" He got out between laughs.

"Yes! You are the grossest of all the boys in the world. And stop laughing at me" she said as she stood up and walked back to Robert. It would only take a minute or two to get to their little campsite, and during the walk Anna was deep in thought.

' _It makes sense though_ ' she thought and looked down at the palm of her crystalline hand. "Do you have any answers for me?" she asked out loud, and immediately felt stupid for talking to her own hand. ' _You haven't really been allowed to be a carefree child, he says. I guess so. But that's a bit to late now isn't it. I can't go back to ignorance. Ignorance, the simple fact of not knowing. Well I do know. They cut, burned, poked, dribble acid, weaved runes onto me, they depraved me from sleep, water and food for days at a time, and for what? For power? More land? Simply because they could?! Whatever the reason, I will find out why, and then destroy that reason._ ' Anna thought grimly, feeling the older her bring forth some dark images, it was consuming her thoughts. knowing how much power she had hidden underneath her skin, coursing through her veins, and yet still have it so far out of reach. She didn't even notice that she had arrived at their campsite until she tripped over a sleeping Robert, face first into the ground, followed by a loud groan.

His sleep riddled mind quickly made him bolt up and grab for the nearest sword. Or stick in this case. The sword was laying at the other side of him.

"Who's there!" He exclaimed, still in the limbo-esqe state between asleep and awake, "Oh, it's just you" he said when Anna became focused enough for him to recognize her, why she was laying face first in the dirt with her legs on top of him was not even questioned as he closed his eyes again and got comfortable.

"Yeah, sorry. I kind of spaced out for a while and tripped over you, heh" suddenly embarrassed by her clumsiness. Robert opened a single eye to look at her after she had scrambled to her feet.

"What were you thinking about?" he asked just before he yawned.

"Just stuff you know... I'll tell you when I find some answers" she sighed.

"That's all I'm asking. Don't keep everything to yourself, it's not good for you."

Robert sat up and blinked before turning his eyes to the sky, the moon was up, and the forest was silent. A howl was heard in the distance. Very soon the forest would become cloaked in perpetual shadow due to the density of the trees. But for now the sky was clear to gaze at, even from within the forest. The older priest enjoyed the cool breeze against his skin. It reminded him of his wedding, held in the fall where the color of nature transitioned from green to red. Although this time it was from white to green, the breeze felt very much the same. Oh, how he missed his kids, and the warm skin of his wife. This trip was dragging out, and his worry for his family was reaching a peak. With the way the plan worked, they would be at the deadly pass between Sasmain and the lower parts of the northern kingdoms. It wasn't that the pass was dangerous that had him worried, it was the amount of bandits and outlaws living in the unclaimed lands that filled his mind.

"How are you, considering everything?" Robert asked to think about something he could actually do something about, Anna's situation.

"I believe I'll be fine.. It's just going to take some time." She forced a tiny smile, still not sure what to feel.

"Okay, good. that's good." he rubbed his eyes and stretched, making his spine pop in multiple places, "Urgh, I'm getting to old for sleeping on the forest floor. I really could use a warm bed and some clean clothes. And soap." he huffed when he smelled his armpits.

Anna nodded but didn't comment on his smell, she did however voice her concerns about their situation, "How about we just do what Jonas told us? I mean, nothing is risk free, and right now all we're doing is waiting.. Waiting doesn't get us anywhere. And I just want to not worry, I want to not walk around scared, just waiting for the guards to show up and toss me in a hole again. I just want to relax and be able to close my eyes."

Robert got to his feet and started packing, "I'm afraid you're right. I can't shake this feeling that something is wrong. I mean, we've been on the run for what, three or four weeks now? And we're supposed to believe that they haven't found us by now? It just doesn't sit right with me, it's too good to be true. Either we're the luckiest fugitives in history, or.. I don't even know. Perhaps there really is a god somewhere out there." the priest said, while packing up the camp and sighing wistfully.

"A priest, questioning the presence of god? Isn't that illegal?" Anna asked seriously, she had read about god and the holy words, and she knew that a man of god wasn't allowed to question the words. To that, Robert inhaled a deep breath and exhaled quickly, almost as if he didn't want to say the next words out of his mouth.

"To be honest. I've been losing faith since magic evolved into this chaos it is today. I mean, some people out there can shape the landscape, others can destroy eco-systems. The church has been losing followers for a while now, and it's getting harder and harder to convince myself that there is a god even out there at all. Maybe he's now obsolete and it's time for humans to care of the earth." He looked to the ground in shame, never in his life would he think that he would admit it out loud to anyone but his wife.

Anna furrowed her brows in thought, perhaps she would have to relearn how to interact with people. The guards didn't flinch at her aggressiveness, and Robert had shown nothing but kindness towards her, despite her changing moods and outbursts of anger. Jonas was the only constant, he wasn't liked, nor disliked. He was easy to be around, he even told them the reason for keeping a lot of secrets. Anna and Robert had always assumed his clan was filled with bloodmages like him. But the fact was that he was a part of a clan that tried to figure out how to use magic to advance medicine and construction, how to use magic for good and not bad. The fact that bloodmages is renowned for being 'bad' is because of the stigma that follows using humans as the source instead of the nature.

"I don't know if he's out there or not. But something sent you to me, without you I wouldn't be here right now. And I'm really happy that you took the risk of getting me out." Anna said, it was the realest thing she had felt for a long while. Gratitude. Mostly towards the one who got her out. Jonas too, got the same treatment. He didn't reply with more than a quick nod that was immediately followed by his new plan.

"I know what we'll do now, I've seen them switch out a couple of soldiers twice now. Once a day four new border-guards arrive, and takes over the watch for the day. Just now, four new arrived and yesterday I saw the four that got substituted leave about an hour later. That gives you two a little over twenty minutes to get Anna under control and ambush the four who's going to leave." He ran through his plan a little fast, but Anna was relieved about not having to use the ice on Jonas' body. Using them on the southern soldiers wasn't a problem, Athena's influence was still fresh in her thoughts. And she could feel the familiar surge of anger and the need to release that anger on something.

With her thoughts straightened and a single goal in mind, Anna stood and nodded, "Yes, let's go, I want to test something anyway, and this way we can keep moving. Where do you think is the best spot for the ambush?"

Jonas picked up a stick from the ground and drew in the ground.

"About 350 yards southwest is a fork in the road, that would be an obvious point, there is also a spot next to a small hill about a mile further than that, it's a better spot. But I'm not sure if you can make it there in time." His drawing on the ground wasn't good, but it showed the fork in the road, and the general direction Anna and Robert would have to go.

"Alright, let's move right away Anna. I hate to do this again, using your powers, but I don't see any other way." Robert apologized.

"Don't worry about it, after all this is what I do best." She solemnly added.

"Hey, when all of this is done and we're safe we can start training you to become the best Queen this world has seen. We just need to get to a safe place first." Robert assured her.

"Yeah, let's think about that when it becomes relevant." she deflected, the fact of the matter was that she wasn't certain that it was the best decision. If there was one thing she had learned during her practice at night, it was that she was best at fighting without holding back, but it often had some serious affects on her surroundings. The mansion, the forest she turned into a barren waste, the various spots they had stopped at, and the animals that had suffered around her. The thing she had learned, her powers was destruction incarnate, everywhere she let them go it ruined the nature around her.

' _Maybe it's a curse they put on me back there._ ' she thought before they set out to the fork first.

* * *

 **AN: Alright, as I've said before this story will not "die", but the updates don't have a schedule. This whole writing-deal is still new to me, and I've spent about a month now trying to create some red thread that will tie all the events together without making it seem "unrealistic" and ruining a flow.. I re-read my first 8 chapters a couple of times and I really feel like I could change a lot of things about my writing, but I don't want to rush it and have the writing style change too much in this story.. That being said, I've had loads of ideas for a modern story, mostly smutty to test the waters with that kind of thing before putting it in this one. I plan to use sex as a sort of connection between our favorite girls, because, I'm a closeted pervert and think it's incredibly hot. No shame tho.**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	11. Chapter 10

The pair sat behind a fallen tree, hiding in its shadow, waiting for the soldiers to pass them. They had spent about six minutes getting to the ambush point according to Robert, so they should have about a quarter of an hour before Anna would have to power up again. Seeing as Robert was sitting with his eyes closed, Anna tried gathering her jumbled thoughts, everything had been too blurry for too long.

Her morals were smudged. Just a few years ago, she wouldn't even begin to think that she could take a life. Then one night she was told that she was ready to join the arena. The day that she figured out just how strong she was, the day that spawned her evil counterpart. The day she lost her innocence.

She didn't want to think about it. But she did. And when the images started she couldn't make them stop. She couldn't even move, she kept seeing the face of the young boy, contorted in horror as she stabbed him in the chest, over, and over, and over again. The way he had pounced on her, the fear she had felt, knowing her life was in danger at that very moment. Then the feeling of blood running down her arm. She snapped, all the years of training suddenly manifested in her muscles. She didn't think, in fact, she wasn't even there. The only thing she knew was that the next time her eyes opened, she lay chained to a bed with bits and pieces of memory flashing in her mind. Memories that weren't her own, but still felt so unnervingly real.

And the longer she sat against the trunk lying on the ground, thinking about things she didn't want to think about, even more memories surfaced. Memories that seemed to be distant, unfamiliar. Whatever these new scenes were, she couldn't recall ever seeing a long hallway filled with armor displays and paintings, a room painted sky-blue and a couple of people with crowns resting atop their heads.

The last flashing image did however bring with it an emotion she was slowly getting used to, calmness and love. It still felt strange to her, having something to, not hate. Something that didn't immediately scream danger, something nice. It wasn't as if she didn't understand the emotion, just that she never had anything to relate it to. A life of hardship and trials, slowly watching the people around you go insane, constantly having to be on your toes and being ready to fight back. It left her with scars that rooted deeper than just the surface of her skin.

Anna was only interrupted when Robert poked her in the ribs, "What are you thinking about? You've been awfully quiet since we sat down, wanna talk about it?".

"In time, I don't think talking about this is going to fix it…" she was silent for a brief few seconds, but Anna being Anna spoke anyway, "…have you ever had dreams that felt so real you started questioning if you're awake?".

"Hmm, I have yeah, once or twice. Is it about your nightmares?" he asked in concern.

"No, it's nothing like that. It's something else, and I'm not sure what it is. We've never been taught about anything like this... Am I supposed to still see the dream when I'm awake?" she asked after leaning a bit closer to him, even if they were the only two people out there right now.

"Of course not, it might linger for a few minutes after you wake up but that should dissipate from your mind. Are you seeing these things right now?" Anna almost thought that he sounded a bit apprehensive in his choice of words.

"I… I am, yes. But it doesn't feel as if they are my dreams, it's hard to explain, sorry" she fixed her gaze on her feet, going a bit rigid. Even with her lack of knowledge about mental health and human interaction, she still felt odd when revealing that information.

"I see. Is it having a negative effect on you?" using his former experience as a field medic he tried to see this from an objective side, as he had done multiple times with people in different states of shock.

"I don't think so"

"Are you able to focus without being distracted by it?"

She lifted her intact hand and focused on the power she was most familiar with, a lavender colored mist came to between her fingers, twirling around her hand before clinging to the surface like a tight fitted glove, ending by interweaving with her skin.

"Yes"

"Do you feel like okay with the images?"

"I don't feel okay in general, but they are… I don't even know. They just feel so vivid, as if I've been there myself, like I know everything about the places I see, and at the same time I don't know anything at all."

"That's okay, I just wanted to know if anything causes you more trouble, I hate to see you hurting, and knowing I can do nothing about it", he wished he could just stand inside her brain and unravel all the confusion and anger she had inside her. But alas, such a thing wasn't within his grasp, not yet at least. The same way he was taught healing magic, he would strive to learn more about these mind-spells Jonas had been using. If he succeeded he would not only heal bodies, but minds too. It filled him with a determination he hadn't felt since the first time he successfully healed a soldier.

"I don't blame you, I did kind of ruin your necklace, didn't I?" she chuckled, when he had told her about it she simply shrugged it off and told him it had happened before when she was being tested. The expression on his and Jonas' face was still amusing to think about.

"Aye, you did, but don't fret. I'll acquire a new one as soon as we get to civilization." He patted her on the shoulder, and he noticed she didn't flinch away.

' _Perhaps she's finally getting used to being around people_ ' he smiled at his own thoughts.

"Did you hear that?" Anna whispered as she turned and poked her head above the trunk, Robert followed suit.

Further down the road they could hear heavy armored people walking along the road, the clanging of metal meeting metal. Some distant voices, too far to make out what they were talking about, but close enough to know they were joking around and laughing.

Anna ducked down again, closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. She could already feel her magic flowing from her neck to her legs and arms, empowering her muscles and bones. The most basic of fighting techniques when dealing with magic, easy to control with practice. Incredibly difficult to master.

* * *

In Arrendelle, Elsa was at her wits end, she and a teacher had tried regaining her powers but it wouldn't manifest as it usually did. It would be there for a few seconds then vanish into thin air.

She head been at it for only a couple of days, but there was no progress. On top of that the timing couldn't be worse ,the short amount of time she had without powers were great. But she understood her duty as, not only the princess, but as the most important piece in their defense. Having been able to hold hands without concentrating on raising her body temperature, without focusing on reigning in her powers, without hurting anyone, had been pure bliss for Elsa.

She wasn't at all happy about the circumstances, but it was necessary to the survival of the kingdom. Unfortunately. And although she knew it was the right thing to do, she couldn't help the nagging feeling of sadness, that she would have to give up on her biggest dream. To be rid of the responsibilities her powers brought upon her.

Arrendelle didn't have a massive army like the southerners', and they didn't have a vanguard full of experts and skilled fighters, they built their success on trading. And now they were on the brink of war, the south was fortifying the forts closest to the northern borders, they were gathering a large amount of metals from the mines in the western part of their country, and fortification spells from the east. Not to mention the large fleet being built by the coastlines.

It would spell the downfall of Arrendelle if Elsa didn't get her powers back, never before had it been more important that she was in peak performance. Just when all she ever wanted came true. That wasn't at all fair. But she still understood, perhaps a little too much.

"This won't work your highness, we need something to jumpstart the flow again. Whatever happened to you while you were away has blocked off your connection to the natural energies" the scholar told her.

"What do you suggest we do to accomplish that?" she sighed, feeling a little lost.

"It's quite obvious, we find whatever did this to you. It would take an incredible amount of magic to sever such a connection, something that is equally or more powerful than even you, your highness" he answered, but in the back of his mind he knew it could take a long time, finding a single person in the vastness of the world.

"That seems to be an impossible thing to do, I only really got in close contact with the old lady we stayed with, and her family… and then there was this one incident, I'm sure you've heard the rumors by now, _"the crazy princess who sees things that doesn't exist"_ , she said in a mocking voice.

"I have yes, but that doesn't mean I believe you are. I believe anything is possible at this point, I've seen some incredible things in my travels, and what you've seen isn't even worth mentioning in comparison" he chuckled.

"What makes you say that?" Elsa asked curiously.

"I've seen people changing their shape, from man to animal. I've seen people stand in front of you one second and then be gone the next. I've seen people have houses thrown at them leaving only scratches. I even heard about someone being brought back from the dead, although I have a hard time believing that one. It's just not possible to cheat death." He ended the sentence in a solemn sigh, making it a bit obvious that he had lost someone close to him.

"Teleportation and empowerment, things we have used ourselves during espionage, traveling and fighting. That is nothing special, although shapeshifting seems a little far-fetched." she said unimpressed.

"Yes, nothing special when it's one or two people teleporting over a short distance as you know yourself, but a frigate at least 100 feet long is something else. And it wasn't just the regular empowerment we have our vanguard use. It was incredible, he stopped a sword with his bare arm as if it was a shield." He explained enthusiastically.

"How will this information help me?" She said exhausted from today's training.

"Well, as you know magic has existed in the world for a long time now, but it's rare that we see powers like yours and Rapunzels. You defied everything we knew about it. Your father then sent me and a few colleagues on a journey, we were to find other people like you. And we did, but their control was minimal at best. Which is when we came across a small kingdom lead by the Giraldus family. Both the king and the queen had incredible power, and incredible control. They were neutral in the feud between north and south, but it was also their downfall only a few years back…", he turned his head to the sky and smelled the dirt, reminding him of the little kingdo, "King Isanbardus the 14th who is the current king in the south, sought them out when you came to your powers. He wanted them to fight his cause, something that couldn't have been easy on his pride. But they declined him, they didn't want to hurt a fellow hybrid. Speaking as if we are different species, it made the king furious of course. Then a year later he found a young man, working in a basement in some tavern. This youngster had a mind like no one else, he could see the inner mechanics of magic. It allowed him to create his own unique magic, enchantments powerful enough to withstand the strongest mages. He then attacked them when he had his armies ready. The rest you already know. They lost, the king won against not one but two hybrids, and now he wants the north." After summarizing the events he turned to the princess who seemed to be distraught, a little scared, but underneath it he could see strength and determination.

It took a good half minute before Elsa had processed the information. She put her palms together rubbed them a couple of times and separated them, gathering power in the gap. The ice crystals started forming, swirling around in erratic patterns. But as soon as she tried shaping the ice she lost control and it disappeared again. Without saying a word the scholar went to the canopy set up and took a seat, observing the princess training once again.

When the moon was well above the horizon the princess was still hard at work, she was soaked in sweat, yet she hadn't managed to gather enough magic to even shape a snowball. Exhausted to the point of collapsing she fell to her knees and had to brace herself by putting her hands on the ground too. The Scholar still sat in his chair, reading up on various texts involving magic. Anything from history books to fairy tales. Anything was welcomed at this point. After reading a certain passage from a book before the Eruption he called the princess over.

"Your highness, come sit and take a break, we don't want you to strain yourself." A servant had brought them a pitcher of water and some food.

"I'm already straining myself. But you got a point, I feel famished." she took a deep breath and pushed off from the ground, almost losing her balance in the process. As soon as she sat, the scholar pushed a plate in her direction, and she started wolfing down the meat and bread. Only a soft laugh being poorly obscured stopped her.

"Oh no, go ahead, it's good to see you being improper. You need to have more fun you know, not everything can be work and serious business." He said in an oddly commanding, authoritative voice, considering he was an employee of the crown, and she was the princess.

"I don't feel like I have time for that, this past week has proven that much. I can't walk around in fantasy land thinking only about myself. I need to think of the people, and the people need my powers. There isn't much to it, I need to get it back so I can protect us." She tried sounding like she was a peace with her words, but a heavy sadness laced the undertones. The scholar knew a lot of things, but not about comforting a teenage girl. So, he did what he knew, he distracted.

"Have you ever read about the world before The Eruption?" he said, and it worked Elsa's expression changed from sadness to, something else at least.

"Hmm, let me see… I recall reading about a man called Napoleon, he conquered most of the land they called Europe, hmm. Something about attacking Egypt, and that he found something down there but never made it back from his voyage. And, that thing is supposedly the reason why the Skymountain suddenly shot through the clouds, displacing an incredible amount of land and water, destroying the old world, and leaving us with this new one." She explained the best she could from what her memory had held on to.

"Right you are. It is said that, that thing drew magic to the earth long ago, but it also brought chaos and mistrust. It sent the world into a state of panic, the southerners gathered under the leadership of King Isanbardus the third, he blamed the magicians and witches, a sentiment that the southerners still hang on to. Up here we embraced the change. We need your family's leadership, and we need you to get back your powers. Without it we can't stand against their armies."

"I'm perfectly aware of that, it's just not fair, having this responsibility, this burden. It's… difficult to carry alone." Elsa admitted to the scholar, having the strength of an entire army residing under your skin was tough, getting it back after losing it was even more so. But it had to be done, and finding that girl could be the answer.

Little did he know that she had launched her own investigation. Elsa had sent a letter to the neighboring country of Corona, asking the crown-princess to help locate her. She knew that her country was experts in subterfuge and spying. Where Arrendelle got their strength from unity, Corona got theirs with information. Seeing that the two kingdoms had been close allies for ten years and being friends with those in power, she had crafted a letter explaining her situation and asked for help. And she had been very adamant in this being kept a secret. The rumors were bad enough as it was, no need to add fuel to the flame.

Rapunzel had been more than happy to help, though she requested a visit in two months' time, to relay whatever she could find out in person. A request Elsa was more than happy to oblige in.

"Your highness, I know you've been speaking to almost every expert on magic this past week. And I've also heard that your search has been less than fruitful. So, forgive me if this is rude and disrespectful, but are you absolutely sure about what you saw?" he had his head bowed to show he hadn't meant any hostility with his question.

"I'm a hundred percent positive. If I wasn't I wouldn't bother with all this research. I just don't get why no one has ever heard of anything like it." Her brows knit in thought.

"It's easier to dismiss when you haven't seen such a thing in person. But of you're that sure, I'll devote my time to gather whatever knowledge I can about this. But I must request a guard detail to accompany me on the journey, and a boat. I'll have to cross the ocean and go west."

Elsa nodded and walked to a table underneath a small canopy and wrote a contract that would allow him to get whatever he needed to, and the crown would pay the expenses.

"This should do it" she folded the paper and handed him the contract, "With this everyone should know that you're on official royal business" as he took it he bowed and left the princess in the courtyard.

" _This is getting ridiculous. My own family thinks I'm a nutcase, the people are already talking about me as if I already lost my mind. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces when I'm proved right. Just, FUCKING SHOW ME I'M RIGHT",_ with her last thought and a first slammed into the table, she was thrown backwards, landing with a thud on the grass. Pain was registered all over her body. Her right leg, back and right hand was all hurting. Every nerve in her body sent pulses to her brain, overwhelming her senses. A ringing started in her ears, her eyes became unfocused. Before she was thrown back she could smell the dirt and herself, now she couldn't even register the tiniest scent.

She felt paralyzed, but her field of vision changed from the sky to her leg? Was she nursing her leg? Surely, she wasn't, she had no reason to. The pain from before was slowly subsiding. She then felt something run down her left temple and lifted her right hand to wipe it away, it wasn't something she registered at first, but when the hand came to a stop in front of her, and her eyes focused on the blood smeared on it she started questioning her sanity.

" _Is that ice?"_ Elsa thought to herself.

She then started wiping her head back and forth between two people she didn't know, both asleep. Her eyes started searching the woods around her. An unfamiliar surge ran from her neck down her spine, and into her legs and arms. She shot up and took a defensive stance before yelling out "Who are you!? Show yourself!". But her voice was different, and she wasn't as tall as she used to be. The people around her stirred from her voice. One of them turned and blinked a couple of times, "What the hell Anna, I'm sleeping here" the young man grumbled.

" _Who is Anna?"_ Elsa thought.

"Shut up!" I yelled as I wrapped my head with my hands. Thoughts entered Elsa's mind.

" _Get out, get out, get out. I… I.. You aren't trying to take over?"_ it was a question.

" _Take over what?"_ Elsa was confused, wasn't this her? _"Something isn't right, I was just in the courtyard then I… What did I do?"_ She was certain she was in the courtyard, but it was fleeting.

" _Yeah what did you do? You come into my head without warning, are you insane, you can get trapped in here. Get out now!". That was my voice_ Elsa said? She shook her head, this was strange.

Elsa found the strength to sit up, wait wasn't she standing? She then looked to a familiar courtyard filled with trees suddenly. Under the table at the canopy was a small campfire, she rushed over to get the table away so it wouldn't burn. It made a loud crash when all the cutlery landed on the stone flooring. Elsa shut her eyes tight, willingly trying to make all this confusion go away. When she opened them again the campfire was gone? But the table was still flipped over.

" _Okay, okay... Calm down Elsa, this can be explained. You are not crazy, at least I hope I'm not. Although I guess talking to myself is a bit crazy, and seeing all these things is also crazy... FUCK, I am going crazy, aren't I?"_ pacing was good, she had control over pacing. Back and forth, back and forth. Simple.

" _You never answered my question, crazy girl"_ Elsa's voice rang in her head again, wait not hers, this was another voice. Everything was overlapping, memories, senses and emotions. She stopped dead in her tracks. She felt something with the voice as it came out calmer than it had before.

" _Just give me a minute, this is very overwhelming"_ She answered the distant voice.

" _You've surely linked with other people before, since you got into my head without touching me?"_ that voice, where had she heard it before?

" _No, but it feels like my head is about to explode, can you shut off that incessant ringing?"_ Elsa desperately tried tuning it out but it was burrowing through her skull, rattling her brain.

" _I'm sorry, I can't. I've been told it's a side effect of the mental strain put on the one holding the spell if the one he or she connects with doesn't put up some sort of barrier or helps controlling the spell."_ The voice of Anna came clearer.

" _Then please do that, this hurts quite a lot"_ Elsa pleaded, but the answer she got wasn't comforting, " _I can't"._

" _What do you mean you can't?"_ She got angry… _Urgh everything is too intense._

" _I haven't learned how to, why don't you just stop the spell and get out"_ Anna's curiosity shone brightly in Elsa's mind.

" _I… I don't know how I got into your head"_ it sounded pathetic, but she honestly didn't know.

" _Alright. Then let's figure out how this happened. Tell me what you've been doing these last couple of days."_ Anna asked.

" _Wait, you believe me just like that? Without knowing who I am or what I want? That's a little naïve of you, isn't it?"_ Elsa facepalmed, she wasn't supposed to be hostile towards the voice, she had simply expected a fight or at least expected she would have to convince her innocence.

" _Calm down princess, I can hear your every thought, and I also feel the sincerity behind your words. No need to convince or nothing. Just think it or feel it, I'll know, if we're connected like this… So, your name is Elsa, and you're living up north in a castle."_ Anna nonchalantly struck up a conversation.

" _I feel like I should take some precautions with you, how do you know my name and where I live?"_ Elsa poked the bear, but the bear seemed to not care at all, in fact the bear laughed as she swiped the stick away.

" _Ahahaha, you literally just had the same experience as I have, I see your name on the papers in front of you, and the castle could be seen when you were lying on your back."_ Anna answered rather matter of factly.

" _But why aren't you freaking out? And you can see through my eyes?"_ Anna's calmness rubbed off on Elsa, but only slightly.

" _Of course I can. Wasn't that what you just did before? I just can't stop them like you did. Try and let it flow, don't drown them out."_ Elsa did as she was told, but not before setting herself down on the chair.

The vision started warping again, some stuff appeared inside one another. Like having two three-dimensional things occupying the same space. It was incredibly disorienting and she started feeling a bit dizzy. Once she could focus properly again she turned Her head, seeing the courtyards image change while the other remained still in her vision, like a painted canvas burned into her eyes.

" _Whoa, that felt… odd, are you seeing this?"_ Elsa said, as she focused on the second set of images.

" _Mhmm, I do. So, what do you wanna do with this spell? Actually, I know, show me your magic, I'll show you mine too."_ Anna was suddenly filled with wonder, and excitement.

" _I can't do that right now. I was on a journey, and on my way home something happened, and I've felt drained ever since."_ Elsa looked to the ground.

" _Then I'll show you mine, you can always show me yours later. Just close your eyes so you can focus on my side"_ Anna jumped up and focused her magic to empower her muscles and bones. It made Elsa more curious than she had been in a long time. I almost felt like it was Anna's feelings that affected her, but it was nice feeling that childlike wonder. As Anna set into a sprint where she bobbed and weaved through a dense forest, Elsa curled into the chair, gripping the armrests tightly.

" _How are you doing this?"_ Elsa's voice was way louder than before, it was enough to make Anna stumble and hit a tree with her shoulder, dislocating her left shoulder. Both girls cried out at the same time.

" _Owww, fuck that hurt",_ then Annas voice alone, _"And I forgot my other injuries in the process of freaking out"._

" _I didn't think you were freaking out"_ Elsa asked smugly.

" _How could I not freak out just a little bit? I suddenly had another girl inside me"_ Anna rolled her eyes. And craned her neck to see the damage. Yep, dislocated. Then she felt a faint embarrassment, most likely stemming from Elsa. Why? She didn't know, and she didn't have time to question it as she was setting the shoulder again, because Elsa suddenly had questions, and a lot of them.

" _What is with that hand? How did you just sprint though the woods faster than a horse on a road? And why are you so calm when your shoulder just dislocated?"_ that was only a few of them, Elsa's mind was sent into overdrive as some of the puzzle pieces fell into place. Anna was the girl from the mansion.

* * *

 **Long time no see. I feel like I should apologize, but then again, I did say I had no idea when I would update again. More words than the precious chapters it kind of felt wrong stopping before this.**  
 **First real interaction with the girls, slightly more on the worlds story. I feel like I should explain that one… My 'AU-ish' thought was that the technology follows the movie, the magic doesn't ofc.**

 **The Eruption happened in the real 1807, making the world count that as the new "Year 0". It creates a lot of freedom to shape the world and have locations otherwise impossible if I went with the real world as so many Elsanna stories do. Been on the fence about referencing land names without just calling them those names, so countries are now the last name of the king or queen controlling those places. With a lot of unclaimed land where the supernatural stuff lurks. But those things can wait till later.**

 **On a last note, I hope that the "bonding" was confusing to read without ruining anything, it's meant to be confusing ofc If you feel something missing tell me (or ask if you want, although I don't hold back spoilers from my replies, you're warned), I'm sure I forget to include the reader in some things and if it at any point becomes a mess tell me and I'll fix my shit.. Happy to get criticism, without it I can't improve!**

 **Love Mr. Turtle.**


	12. Chapter 11

" _I have so many questions, but let's start of with the most obvious. Are you the girl I saved in the mansion?"_ Elsa asked the other girl.

" _Oh my.. You're real.. I thought it was some kind of angel saving me.. I didn't really see much, I was kind of exhausted and slipping into unconsciousness. Thank you, I was actually ready to let it end back there, I didn't really have anything left to accomplish. I got my revenge and didn't have any goals to work towards. I have now though.. So again, thank you, thank you, thank you."_ She gushed and Elsa could feel the happiness Anna radiated on the other side of their link.

Followed by a painful stinging in her shoulder as Anna popped it back into place. Elsa had a lot of questions, and they mostly drifted toward the link and how Anna controlled her hand. But as she was thinking to herself she could feel Anna being equally confused about it. And Elsa knew in that moment that Anna would become incredibly important to her, a feeling that was reciprocated but for now none of them knew in what way.

" _Of course I helped you, how could I not? It was the right thing to do. What wasn't the right thing to do, was leaving you.. I am so, so sorry. Can you please forgive me?"_ The plea was heartfelt, thick with regret and relieve.

" _Why wouldn't I forgive you? You saved my life, and in turn I made a friend. I can also feel how deeply you regret not doing more back then. So don't worry about that any longer, I'm better now, I think. I just don't really know what to do now, everything is confusing, and jumbled. I have no goal left to pursue. And no plans about my future."_ Anna sighed and rubbed her shoulder, it was quite sore from the impact, but it was manageable. She then took off at a much slower pace, a light jog by her standards, yet it was still slightly faster than a regular person would jog.

" _Alright I'll try to do that.. Let's get to know each other a bit then."_ Elsa was a bit hesitant about divulging too much about herself. And of course Anna could sense that much. The ringing had diminished and Elsa had less trouble focusing on Anna's perspective. Yet something concerned her, at first she had seen flashes, bits and pieces of memories from Annas past. Now though, she couldn't see any of them, nothing about the link felt as it did in the first minute since it was established, it was becoming more controlled and calm every second that passed. Elsa decided it wasn't a bad thing, being completely linked, sharing everything, it was a scary thought. So for now she was content with only knowing whatever the other person felt like sharing. It was less complicated that way. So she started telling about herself.

" _Well, as you know, my name is Elsa, I'm a hybrid since I was 5. I have an older brother, Prince Kristoff, and my parents are King Agnarr and Queen Iduna, which makes me princess Elsa. I like chocolate.. No, I LOVE chocolate. It's absolutely the best, have you ever tasted it before?"_ Elsa asked thinking to herself, _'good good, start off easy'_ , and she was instantly surprised by the differences in the 'talking' and her own private thoughts. Her own thoughts felt like any other normal thought, but sending it to Anna felt like sharing herself in an odd way.

" _Princess Elsa.. Good to know, I'm Anna Giraldus. I.. I.. I don't really know what to tell you.. I don't have any siblings, my parents are dead, and.. And.. I've never had chocolate before."_ She wanted to tell her everything, but telling her about what she had been through drudged up too many bad memories, too many horrible feelings, and she didn't believe it was necessary to tell Elsa about it.

The beauty about their bond was that Elsa could, despite losing a lot of the input, tell that Anna didn't want to take a trip down memory-lane. And being a good royal she knew not to push the younger girl. She just needed someone to not judge her. She would simply be there for her, if she wanted to have her that is.

" _Oh, then you must come visit someday. We have a sweets-maker, he makes the best chocolate in the northern hemisphere. It's like heaven on earth."_ Elsa chose to focus on chocolate and happy thoughts, even if Annas last name did intrigue her after what she was told earlier by the scholar.

" _I'd really like that, perhaps we could become…."_

And then there was silence. Elsa didn't hear anything after that, and when she opened her eyes, no image overlapped, no emotions other than her own. Nothing, concern coursed through her as she quickly stood from her chair, only to feel dizzy and sick, then she passed out. Falling to the ground in a heap if skin, muscle and bones.

* * *

"… _. Friends."_ Anna sighed, she too, felt the connection break. Then she started worrying, what if something happened to her savior? What if Anna had subconsciously evicted her from her mind? Although it didn't feel as if she had done that. She would have to ask about that when she got back to the camp, for now all she could do was hope that Elsa was okay.

She then recalled the bridge debacle, it had been tricky, they were almost recognized. But thanks to a little quick thinking Anna growled and snapped her teeth at some of the guards, Jonas had picked up on it and jerked her chained hands backwards, then slapped her with enough force that made Anna think he took it a bit to far, but it worked. The guards had asked if she was a refugee trying to cross the borders to get out of Escain. A simple yes had been enough to convince them.

Anna often had the thought that their entire travel was too easy. Too safe. But she simply counted herself lucky that none of the Westergaardian scouts had found them. Or maybe she really did have a guardian angel out there, somewhere. In either case, they were now in the marshlands of Escain. So far it was still heavily forested but from the hilltop she was currently at she could see the landscape. The trees was thinning out more and more the further her eyes travelled. A dense mist covered the lands in the distance. It gave the whole picture a sense of dread, as if the mist screamed robbers and miscreants. How in the world a powerful clan of mages had chosen this place was beyond her. It made no logical sense to choose such a place to set up shop. Only time would tell if she had made the right choice in going with Jonas' plan.

After some contemplating about her future and a half hour nap, she made her way back to the camp, if she could remember where that was, she had blindly sprinted into the forest in glee. Shit. She was lost, she didn't know the lay of the land, and there were no noticeable landmarks around. Fuck!

"Oh man, this isn't good" she said out loud while rubbing her eyes. A twig snapping and a growl from a rather huge bear forced her attention away from the landscape, towards the bottom of the hill.

"Hmm, food might be good" she mused, as she charges her right hand getting ready to go in for the kill, but a howl was heard not far from her, and a pack of four wolves rained down upon the bear. It managed to take out all but one wolf, the largest of them all, it rivalled the bear in both strength and ferocity. The bear put up a good fight, getting a well place swipe in on the wolf, that knocked it to ground in with a whimper. Just as the bear was about to bite the wolfs throat Anna had, without thinking, frozen the bears jaw shut, making it scramble around in confusion only to run away from the scene.

Her gaze fell upon the large wolf, blood was seeping from the wound on it's neck, painting the ground and its fur crimson. In a moment if none hesitancy she ran to the wolf and ran her hand between It's ears.

"Shh, it's going to be okay. Don't worry you beautiful creature" she kept petting the wolf trying to think of something to do. The wolfs breathing became more uneven with every passing second. She had to do something fast. A distant thought entered her mind, like an echo of something you've been told resonating with a new experience, it sounded like Elsa but not entirely like her. An incredible feeling rose from within her, magic that felt soothing and mysterious. Anna looked at her right hand, noticing the slight misty fog of tangible magic, she then started freezing over the wound. It was the first time she felt that the ice-powers was obedient, and did as she wanted it too. A smile broke out on her face when the wolfs struggling breath stabilized. Then she slumped down on the large animals' fur. She couldn't just leave it there though, so she sat cross legged next to it and began meditating, she could detect a headache coming on, the link had drained her, and this last effort only added to the exhaustion. She kept her ears perked as she waited for the wolf to recover enough so she could leave.

" _What are you doing Anna, this is a feral animal, you shouldn't care about it"_ she shook her head, she couldn't find a reason as to why she had done what she did. No point in trying to find an answer when one's actions defied your basic instincts.

* * *

Meanwhile Robert and Jonas was frantically searching for the tiny girl, Jonas could recall telling her to keep her voice down, but he had been sleep riddled and didn't register her departure. And since bloodmagic couldn't produce any tracking spells he didn't even have a chance at locating her.

"We have to get to my clan, and fast, they will be able to help us find her" Jonas had said.

"We can't just leave, what if she comes back to this place and we aren't here?" Robert protested.

"It's either leave and be sure to find her, or stay and hope she makes it back. Id rather take the option that has a guaranteed chance of getting her back." Jonas replied.

"You are even worse than my wife. But.. It makes sense.. Damnit, I made a promise to protect her, we shouldn't have gone to sleep at the same time." The priest groaned.

"What's done is done, let's move, we're not far from the entrance to the clans' hideout. About three days travel, give or take. Depending on floods and such. So, we better not waste any time." He finished packing up and took his makeshift crutch he had produced the night before. Hanging on Roberts shoulder wasn't exactly the most comfortable way to travel.

"I'm going to take a last look around, cook some of the rabbit we have left before the fire dies out." Robert grumbled. His opinions had been shot down so many times now that he began wondering if he was even needed on this journey. He just couldn't leave without being certain they couldn't find her.

As he trotted around the woods he heard howling in the distance, it made his blood run cold. Humans wasn't the only species affected by the magic. Especially the predators of the world had been reaping the rewards, every animal was larger than they had been in the old world. On top of their improved physique they were magic resistant. An evolutionary necessity to the animals, as they were now hunted by people with supernatural abilities. A scuffle with wolves was the last thing they needed right now, so he reluctantly headed back to Jonas. When he arrived, everything was ready to go and the rabbit meat looked mouthwatering, rationing wasn't a new concept to him. But he still felt incredibly hungry after so many days of travelling. Robert grabbed a piece and sank his teeth into the roast and they took off yet again.

* * *

Anna woke up to something wet slapping against her face, she faintly noticed the smell of dirt, sleep riddled she swatted the wetness away with a lazy hand. Then it hit her again, and again. Finally finding some semblance of consciousness she opened her eyes to a row of very sharp and very large teeth, well more like fangs. Fangs!?

The thought kickstarted her mind as she removed herself from the threat. When she took in the full view of the wolf she noticed some changes, it looked nothing like the ferocious animal that had fought the bear, it's tail was swinging back and forth, the fur seemed alive in the slight wind, reflecting the sun in a wave like motion. The wolf lifted Its front legs and hopped around on the spot, while happily whimpering away, as if it was excited for something. Anna just sat there, looking at the animal in confusion, but since it made no move that showed hostility, she just took it in. This wolf was acting all out of character, wolves were supposed to be dangerous, she had no idea why she chose to help it earlier, it was more an instinctual act then a conscious choice. Anyway, as the wolf stopped the excited running around chasing Its own tail, it turned to look at her, it tilted Its head in observance. Just looking at Anna, seemingly confused about Annas confusion.

Anna giggled at it and lifted her hand absentmindedly, the wolf immediately shoots forward nuzzling Its nose into the offered hand, rubbing its head on the raised limb. After a few rounds of head rubbing it flopped down on top of Annas legs, pinning her down, it did a few rolls to scratch its back before resting Its head on the one paw extended forward while the other curled under It's body. Anna was amused at this point, trying to decipher what the large animal was doing.

"Okay, okay, I helped you with the bear, let's just say you watched over me while I slept, the same I did with you, for however long that was, okay?" she asked the wolf while petting it, but as expected it didn't understand a word she said. It barked and licked her face again, and curled even further into her. An ear twitched, so did the other one.

Then it suddenly jumped up and peered into the forest, growling menacingly at whatever It's ears had picked up. As the object came into view, Anna slowly recognized it as the bear from earlier. The sun was shining through scattered clouds, and the temperature was steadily increasing, so she couldn't have dozed off for long. The larger than average bear crept closer, it seemed as if it knew not to engage head on. When it let out a roar, another bear replied a short distance behind it and to the left, with another equally frightening roar as the second bear exited the forest.

" _Two on two it is then"_ She thought to herself. And as if the wolf could sense her determination it growled in agreement, and kind of happily. The wolf appeared to look forward to this, and Anna couldn't help but think that revenge wasn't an exclusively human feeling. This bear did manage to take down the entirety of Its pack not counting the one saved by her. But the bear still had wounds that were sort of fresh. Which would explain the backup.

Anna had been observing without moving, only when the wolf nudged her with Its nose did she look at it. It grinned at her, literally grinned. She didn't have it in her to do anything but grin back has she patted it between its ears and nodded. With no further actions, they both began moving in tandem. At first they paced slowly towards their opponents, and the bears growled and roared. Then they started running, then sprinting, as Anna closed in on the healthy bear the wolf increased its pace further, overtaking her and headed for the injured one. Just as Anna was about to reach her prey, she twisted and turned to the one the wolf had just slashed across the jaw. Its attention was on everything but her, and she saw the opportunity to strike. She curled her fist and enhanced the non-biological construct with a good amount of power, and when she struck she forced the power out of her fist and into the strike point. She could feel the bones crack in what she would call the bears shoulder, and then she drove through with the punch. She ended up knocking the bear several feet away, as it landed on its side and tried to recover, the wolf had Its jaws locked around the downed animals neck, sinking teeth deep into the soft tissue. One down.

Anna turned to the next one, but was met by a paw the size of her head, directly in front of her face. When it impacted, she was flipped through the air and landed on her stomach. It disoriented her for too long, the bear had her leg pinned and the weight was too much for her skinny limbs, her femur broke and she let out a pained cry. Luckily for her this pulled the wolf away from the first bear, it turned towards the second one. Anna scrambled away as the bear no longer saw her as an immediate threat. It made another swipe for the wolf, but it got caught midair as the wolf crunched the paw with yet another strong bite. The bear lost its footing and Anna sent a force wave towards it. Unfortunately, she didn't account for the wolf to get in the way. She experienced a moment of worry, but the force simply warped around the wolf and still hit the intended target.

Except the bear didn't even flinch from the magic, it probably hadn't been focused enough. She blamed the lack of control. It growled one last time and rose to Its hind legs. The wolf saw this as an opening and went in, but the bear came down upon it with strength, pinning the wolf down. It flailed and scrambled beneath the bear, barely avoiding bites. Anna saw red. In a flash, she had created a large icicle that hovered above her hand. Her eyes had such an intense glow it seemed to be oozing a slight mist from her irises. She directed it towards the bears neck, and when it hit, it sunk into the flesh. Not deep enough to properly injure the bear, but enough to give the wolf a chance to get away.

It wasn't enough with that one, so she gathered power, and when she felt it would be enough to destroy this creature. She gathered some more. And then more, until she struggled keeping it contained within the icy fist. When she felt the ice crack and heard it screech she closed her eyes and visualized the ice tear the bear apart from within. A whimper and a howl was heard. She opened them again, and the wolf was suddenly on top of the bear, with purple stripes and swirls in the fur, the shapes followed the bone and muscle structure of the wolf. She would have admired the beauty of it, if the wolf wasn't in the middle of a power struggle.

Yet, no matter how she looked at it the bear shouldn't have a tough time tossing the wolf to the side, but no amount of thrashing at turning could do it, not while it had an icicle stuck in the neck. The wolf extended its claws and sank them into the bears vulnerable stomach, then ripped it open and jumped to Annas side. The coloration on its fur dimmed a turned into the dark greyish color it had before.

The wolf was offering something to lean one. When it laid down and motioned for her to get on, she complied. The back of the wolf was so comfortable and soft. She held on with the strength she had left, and let the wolf take her to wherever it wanted to. She couldn't think about that when her leg was thoroughly trashed. All she could do was tag along for the ride.

* * *

 **Hey there, again. I hope my way of revealing more and more of Annas powers is a safe way to do it, and sry the connection was short, the girls are still new to this. I have a lot of thoughts about how this gets received by the reader (hopefully this will be my starting point in becoming a "real" writer), and how I explain the "meditate, power up, release, exhaustion" loop I seem to be stuck in.. It's entirely intentional, and it's not only her lack of control or the draining of her magic, so don't worry about that. It will get explained once "the magical experts" get to study Anna**

 **I already know giving her a wolf companion is as cliché as it gets.. But it's a pack animal. Loyalty is important in a pet. No animal has more loyalty than wolves. If you really hate it, tell me and I'll kill it at some point.**

 **I hope I'm at least creating some entertainment for whoever reads this, and to you who have read, reviewed, followed and favorited. It's a bigger number than I expected... And the reviews telling me it's exciting and that I should keep going is why I'm still here. As I told my first reviewer, even if he became the only one to read it I would still complete it, now I have multiple people reading it.. Phew, puts a bit of pressure on me I must say. Not at all what I expected to feel about this. (It seems to make the chapters a bit longer the further I get)**

 **So thank you everyone, for not hounding me and telling me it sucks.. I had kind of expected that because of my kind of rocky start and because of the internet in general.**

 **Lots of Love to all, from Mr. Turtle**


	13. Chapter 12

"Elsa honey, how are you feeling?" Queen Iduna softly asked her sickly looking daughter.

"Like my head is the epicenter of an earthquake" Elsa said as she opened her eyes, only to close them again a second later. She had never felt more drained than she did right now, sure she'd pushed herself to the exhaustion before. But this was different, there were lingering thoughts and feelings she couldn't explain. Well she could, because they weren't her own, not entirely at least. And Elsa wanted to talk about it, but how does one explain a mysterious long distance mind connection, without sounding utterly insane? The easy answer is, you don't. But how would they ever figure it out if she didn't talk about it?

' _Hmm, I guess I'll have to think it over first. Perhaps talk to Kristoff first. Right now though I'd really like to talk to her again. Her voice was so soft and soothing, I've never felt anything like what I felt right at that moment, both scary and exciting. Urge, I guess that answers one major question, but I can't just come out and say it, or maybe I could. I don't know, I'll mull it over for the time being. Wait, listen to your mother when she's talking to you!'_ Elsa tore herself away from her thoughts when she heard the pitch change in her mothers voice, indicating a question was asked.

"Sorry, I wasn't listening, I'm still a bit tired. What were you saying?" She politely asked.

"That's quite alright dear, I was only asking you if you wanted a couple of days off from your duties, you've been out cold for almost a day, your father and I have been very worried. And we don't want you to strain yourself anymore than necessary." The queen sent a smile towards her daughter, relieved that she was awake and hadn't fallen gravely ill.

"You know I don't like sitting around, but yes. A couple of days, at most, would be nice. Thanks mom. Can you maybe send for Lucius?" Elsa had questions about the connection, and who better to tell her than the best interrogator they had at their disposal. She had of course sought him out when she had returned and was trying to gather information about Anna, to that he had nothing to tell her. But for this he must have something, his specialty was mentalism after all.

"Sure honey, but what do you wanna talk to him about if you don't mind me asking?" Iduna asked curiously. And Elsa took a few moments to debate if she should come up with an excuse or be honest. In the end she thought she had enough problems with people questioning her sanity, so she opted for an excuse.

"I'm just wondering if he could tell me about my lost power, he's the only one I haven't talked to out of all the mages we know." She lied, and surprisingly it came out as the truth without a hitch.

"Of course honey, I'll send for him right away. Just promise me you'll get better soon okay?"

"Yes mother, I always do right?" Elsa snickered with a tiny smile.

Her mother grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on it before getting up from her chair besides the bed and heading out of the infirmary. When she stood in the doorway she turned and paused while looking at Elsa.

"It's about that girl you kept talking about isn't it?" Iduna smirked as Elsa's face immediately gave her away.

"…." She didn't know what to say, so she just kept quiet.

"I knew it, we're gonna talk about this when you're better, I know you too well to ignore this. You've been too persistent about it, and you wouldn't be this adamant about something if it wasn't true. Even if it sounds very improbable. Don't worry, I won't tell your father about it, he can be just as stubborn as you." Then she turned and left. Elsa groaned and rubbed her face with her palms a couple of times, and when she finally found a bit of peace after a couple of minutes, another intruder knocked on her door.

"It's Lucius, you wanted to see me your highness." Came the rough voice from to forty-something year old mind-mage.

"Yes, come in." She called out as she propped herself up against the headboard and multiple pillows. Lucius entered the infirmary and took the spot where her mother had been sitting. He didn't say anything for a long time, he simply sat and observed her.

"I wasn't expecting you to be here this fast if I'm gonna be honest with you. You are well versed in mental connections, and I need your help." She tried breaking the silence.

"Whatever happened to you is nothing like anything I've encountered before. Do you mind walking me through what happened when this connection occurred?" He calmly asked her as if she wasn't entirely nuts. Which was a relief to Elsa, since everyone else got this look whenever she tried telling them about her experience in the south.

"Ok, I might as well start from the beginning." And she went on to tell him every detail she could recall, she was sure she forgot one or two things, but nothing of importance.

"I see, well, to create a mental connection you have to be in contact with the person. And I say that knowing full well that you weren't physically there when it happened, but your magic seems to be connected with this Anna. I haven't seen it happen without a physical connection, but none the less, it isn't too far of a stretch to think that it could happen with only the magical connection in place." He rubbed his scraggly beard as he got lost in his thoughts, thinking of ways to test it. After all, this was new, but so was mind reading not that many years ago. And who's to say this wasn't just a new development in ways to use magic.

"Thank you Lucius, you don't know how good it feels to have someone believe in me. I've been slowly loosing my mind trying to wrap my head around it. I only felt absolutely sure when I got to talk to her." She sighed.

"Of course your highness, let me draw up some runes to put under your bed and on your forehead, I may have an idea to help you reach her again without you straining your mind beyond your capabilities. I'm gonna return in the morning, get some sleep princess, you're gonna need it." He patted her knee a couple of times before rising and getting to work.

When he was out of the room and the door closed, Elsa let out a little squeal and berries her face in one of the huge pillows. Excitement bubbled inside her, she was really looking forward to talking to Anna again, this time without all the freaking out. There was no way she was gonna sleep now. Her heart was pounding away at her ribs and she felt her cheeks grow warm.

' _Down Elsa, don't count your chickens before they hatch, or however the saying goes. She might not even be into..'_ But even if she knew deep down, she couldn't admit it to herself yet. Yes, the princess of Arrendelle was irrevocably attracted to people of the female persuasion, it wasn't looked down upon here in the north, but until now the royal family never had one like her.

' _Dad is gonna be so disappointed'_ she thought quietly, and all the excitement drained from her body. Another feeling invaded her, guilt. Even if she had a brother that would one day get married and carry on the bloodline, she would never do that. And all her life she had been groomed and prepared to marry someone for that sole purpose. Well, to her parents she would marry out of love, but the expectations she had been set couldn't be met.

She suspected her **condition** , when Kristoff had dragged a beautiful handmaid into his bed and Elsa had walked in on them with the girl riding her brother. A mental image that was stuck in her head for a long while. Not because of the embarrassment of seeing her brother like that. But because her gaze fell upon the girl, and it was her breasts and slender waist the got stuck in her mind.

Elsa had tried again and again to reason herself out of it, but she couldn't help it, and that was when she first took her lust into her own hands and thought of a girl. It was nothing like when she tried picturing herself with a man, it was stronger and powerful. It was so much better, and so much more natural to her.

No matter, tomorrow she would hopefully get to talk to her again, and she did feel a bit sleepy still. Plus, time goes by faster when you aren't conscious, so she closed her eyes and got ready to enter the dream world again.

What felt like a couple of seconds passed by and she woke to the sun peering though the curtains. It was a strange but welcomed sensation, albeit a little odd. The headache was gone, but she still felt weighed down by her tired body, nonetheless she got up and got dressed, casually, since she didn't have any royal appointments to see to. She took her time putting up her hair, breaking the ponytail in half and putting it through the hoop of a band before tightening it, giving her a sort of loop along with a short ponytail that ran down her neck with the tip resting between her shoulder blades. Easy and quick. It felt kind of freeing to have such a simplistic hairstyle without spending ten minutes braiding it and making sure no hairs were in the wrong place.

When she was done with her morning rituals she called for Lucius and told him to draw up the runes underneath the bed, and when he got started she made herself scarce. Today she felt like taking a walk through the gardens and gather her thoughts, well, more like preparing herself if it succeeded. She would have to be polite, not too pushy, and most of all, friendly. Not the horny teenager she was slowly becoming, with hormones running rampantly throughout her entire being. She didn't even know how old this girl was, but from the brief moments she had rested her eyes on her, something inside her had awoken something that felt primal in nature, almost like, arousal.

" _Oh god, what am I gonna do about this, I have to talk to someone about it, but it has to be someone I can trust not to start up rumors. I guess the only one I trust not to tell anyone is Kristoff."_ Elsa rubbed her temples, trying to ease some of throbbing in her head.

When she had been walking around for a while she found herself at the canopy, the table had been righted and the cutlery and plates cleaned up. As she stood there, letting her sight linger on the furniture her brother had been creeping up on her.

"BOO!" he yelled as he dug a finger into the soft flesh above her hip, Elsa jumped and snorted at the same time, surprised and ticklish, she twisted away from him as he failed to hold back his laughter.

"What are you doing out here all alone, don't you have some appointments or something?" He asked in a lighthearted manner.

"Actually I got a couple days off, why are you here?"

"Dad told me that as a future king I would have to organize my time as I saw it fit, and right now my sister is a free woman. For a couple of days, so we got to make the most of it, let's go drinking in the city."

"Shouldn't you take your role as crown-prince a bit more seriously?" she asked incredulously.

"What is more important than family, and making sure they are okay, dear sister of mine? You need to relax, you're always pushing yourself for other people, never asking anything in return, loosen up, get a few beers and find someone to kiss, or fuck, whichever you prefer. It's really easy to snag a plaything when you're royal." He smirked, knowing his sister hated when he spoke of his companions like that.

"Have I ever told you that you're disgusting? Well, at least you aren't an asshole to them when you're done like some of the other royals and dukes. I remember that one girl, Matilda was it? She stuck around for a long time, what happened to her?" Elsa remembered that one, she was the one she saw him with after all.

"She told me she would have to move to a town closer to the border, her magic was useful with setting up the guard towers at the passageways. It wasn't my place to keep her from securing the kingdom. Sure it hurt when she left, but we had discussed it beforehand. She was willing to give me up to protect everyone else. Imagine what would happen if there weren't any mages like her to secure our borders." He shuddered at the thought of mythical beings pouring into the north. It wouldn't end in happy sunshine and rainbows. It would leave the entire northern hemisphere barren and dead.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't know you actually cared for her that much. I should have guessed, no one stayed longer than her." She bowed her head towards the ground in sympathy.

"Yeah, and she wasn't just pretty, she was through and through a good person, kind of like that saint from your book but more.. Sexy, and less of a dork." He snickered, although he tried sounding like it didn't affect him all that much, the undertones in his voice told another story.

"Heh, yeah she really was a sweet girl, I just hope she's okay wherever she is now. Being so close to the border must be scary, knowing that if you fail all those creatures will invade. It must require a tremendous amount of courage." She admired Matilda, being on the frontlines always scared her, but in the Capitol of Arrendelle the people lived happily in a safe space, with multiple barriers between them and the supernaturals.

"Yeah, I've always wondered if I'm gonna see her again or if she's finding happiness somewhere else." His face fell along with the tone in his voice.

"You really love her don't you?" Elsa asked with a smile.

"Yes, I really do." He whispered.

"How do you know it's love?" She may as well figure out the symptoms to see if she was struck with the same thing.

"Hmm, I just know. I can tell you with certainty that the story books got it wrong. It's not all happy days and sunshine when I think about her, we had some falling out before she left, but I still can't get her out of my head no matter how bad things got between us. I guess that once you feel it, the fear that can only be born from the pure happiness you feel when you're close to the other person. That fear is both scary and good at the same time, on one hand she is the one that can make me endure anything life throws at me, but at the same time she can crush my world with a few words. That's when you know… I'm sorry, I'm getting all mushy over here." He said as he stared at the sky, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

As much as Elsa would like to fall in love, she didn't feel that way about anyone. But she was still young and had plenty of opportunities to fall in love ahead of her.

"Have you considered visiting her? It might do you some good." All she wanted was to see her brother happy. But lately he had been gloomy beneath his goofy exterior.

"I have yes, but that was just what our arguments was about in the end. We both knew the importance of our roles, I told her that I could come with her, enter the military instead of following in dads footsteps and becoming king, but she wouldn't have that, she told me my place was on the throne, not in combat."

"And she convinced you, of all people, to stay behind. Woah, I really need to meet this woman." Elsa said in an exaggerated surprise.

"Shut up." He laughed, "So tell me, anyone you fancy, this question must have come from somewhere right?"

"Maybe, well, not really. I don't feel the way you just described it. I only felt slightly..-" she lowered her voice, "-.. Warm across my whole body." she ended with reddened cheeks.

Kristoff spluttered and coughed from the sudden laughing fit, "Hah, that's how it starts Starburst, so tell me, who is it?" His goofy grin was back, which was a nice thing.

"No, not gonna tell you. You'll have to figure that one out yourself." She smirked and headed for her chambers. Kristoff was quick on her heels, prying and poking her for answers. He should have known she wouldn't tell him, he always had his suspicions about her sexuality, too bad she wasn't indicating which way it fell. Perhaps he could find out if he got her drunk. And a plan was beginning to take shape.

Elsa reached the bed in the infirmary where Lucius was sitting on his knees, drawing up an intricate rune on the floor, he was almost done so she sat herself on the windowsill, to look out over the city, while she waited. From the window she could see the various farmers checking their wards and barriers, she could see the harbor and all the dockworkers loading and unloading ships, she could even see as far as the edge of the city where towers were being erected to create extra barriers, now that Elsa no longer had her usual control over her powers. Since she has awoken she could feel them lingering deep within her, but it wasn't nearly enough to use them for anything useful.

As she contemplated her predicament, both the one involving magic and the one that pertained to herself as a person, she heard a clearing of a throat and turned to see Lucius being done with the runes. He bowed and extended an arm towards the bed, an invitation to hop on and give it a try.

"How is this gonna work?" Elsa asked as she went to lie down.

"It's rather simple once you get the hang of it, the rune will amplify the connection, and it allows me to guide you once you establish the connection. I won't be able to initiate it, but once its there I can provide stability and make sure you won't pass out again. I will then place some knowledge on warding spells inside you and this Anna's minds so you can have a less straining conversation. At least in theory, I've never tried this before mind you, so there is a possibility that it won't work as I intended it to. In short, it's still in the experimental phase." He explained as clear and concise as he could.

"Will you be able to hear us and our thoughts?" Elsa asked a bit timidly.

"I will, yes", Elsas heart started racing, he would know if she went through with it, and it made her more apprehensive to do it. As could be seen from the way she tensed up and held her breath.

"Do not worry Elsa, I've known for years. Your thoughts are loud and hard to block, I'm not judging, I just want to help." He assured her, and she relaxed straight away, of course he wouldn't say anything to anyone, this man must have secrets upon secrets he couldn't tell anyone because of his occupation.

"Thank you.. How about we get this started then?" The apprehension drifted away and she made herself comfortable, while Lucius got his catalyst ready.

"Okay, I want you to relax your mind and think of Anna. Visualize the way she looks, it makes it easier." He spoke in a soft voice, "When you feel relaxed and ready to start, I want you to feel through your magic, it's an extension of yourself, the same way you can feel through your hands you can feel through your magic."

Elsa knew what he was talking about, she had sensed it before, feeling without touching. She felt the same odd feeling as last time, that unfamiliar surge of memories and emotions. But not a lot more than that, until she grunted in pain as her leg flared up, sending pain-signals to her brain. Lucius quickly stabilized the link by numbing the part that sent those kind of senses through. Making it easier for Elsa to maintain focus.

" _Hey Elsa."_ Came the weak greeting.

" _Hello Anna, what did you do to your leg?" Elsa cut straight to the point._

" _I fought a bear or two, not really what I intended to do, but I got a little lost during last time we talked"_ and Elsa noticed the kind of nonchalant tone, as if fighting bears wasn't a big deal.

" _Of course you did. Because fighting bears is such an everyday occurrence, next you'll probably go fight werewolves and lamia? "_ Elsa scoffed _._

" _Not unless I can get my leg fixed, it's pretty banged up, my femur is shattered, I don't really know where my new pal took me but I'm in a cave if some sort."_ To Elsas surprise, Anna was calmer than she expected, completely levelheaded and articulate despite her injuries. A little weaker than past she spoke to her.

Lucius decided to chip in with some of his expertise, _"Hi Anna, I'm Lucius, the Arrendelle family's best interrogator, I'm an expert in mind-walking, and a mediocre healer, I can talk you through a simple healing spell, it won't fully fix you leg, but it'll keep your bone together for a couple of days until you can get a proper healer to look at it, alright?"._

" _Sure thing, whatever you say"_

" _Good, make a magical focal point and draw three Tyr runes along with three Frø runes I'm a circular fashion and in the middle want you to draw a Liv rune, then move it across your leg from top to bottom, it should drag the bine fragments together and strengthen it temporarily. Depending on your magic reserves and your magical nature it can hold anywhere from one to three days."_

Elsa watched on as Anna lifted her hand in the air and the tip of her finger glowed, she circled it once in the air, moved to one'o'clock to draw the first rune, second rune at three'o'clock and so on. Lastly she spred her fingers in front of the glowing rune suspended in mid-air and Anna's whole hand lit up as the rune contracted into her palm, she then took it and placed at her hip and swiped it down to her knee. It left behind a bit of frost on her skin, the same living kind Elsa had seen back when she saved her. It quickly got absorbed into her skin, and when all of the frost was gone, so was the pain.

" _mmm, much better. Thank you.. Both of you, I think I'm gonna be okay now. How many times can I fix it like this doc?"_ Anna's voice was stronger already.

" _Once more is fine, anymore than that and you risk ruining the bone for good, it will get more damaged the more you lean on it while the spell is in place. So I suggest using however long you've got to find someone with proper healing spells to fully fix it. That is if you can, shattered bones aren't easy to fix after all. Anyway, I'll take my leave as soon as I have placed the knowledge to easily establish this connect inside both of your minds. But from what I've felt you don't really need it, this connection even sends emotions through it. That's not an easy task even to someone like me, but you do it so effortlessly, you have to let me study this sometime. Have a nice day both of you."_ Lucius opened his eyes a few seconds later, only to see Elsa with a sincere smile the crinkled the corner of her eyes, something he hadn't seen since she got home. As he was leaving he could here Elsa speaking out loud in a happy tone about her days and her training. In turn his smile grew too.

 **Hello there, this chapter is fully written on my phone while I've been waiting for busses and trains to arrive, or while food was getting done cooking. So a bit experimental and I'm not sure how well I've managed with the layout of the text.**

 **Not much else to say really, hope you enjoyed it, I chose the easy way out considering Elsa's sexuality, we all know she'll be horribly attracted to the young woman version of Anna, so I just wanted to give a tiny amount of 'backstory' on when she herself noticed.**

 **Love Mr. Turtle**


	14. Chapter 13

" _You seriously befriended a wolf_? _I think we can safely assume that there are no dull moments around you"_ Elsa mused as she listened to Anna retell the fight.

" _Never, I want to experience everything there is, I want to go out to sea, I want to climb a mountain, I want to make friends, oh, and I want to taste chocolate of course, you make it sound so good"_

" _It is good, no its better than that. Chocolate is amazing."_

" _I bet it is. Anyway, tell me about you, we haven't even gotten to know each other yet. I'm not sure how this friends thing work exactly, but I have a bunch of images and memories of yours that I can't make heads or tails of. One thing keeps popping up, and that's a corridor with a bunch of armor stands, does that hold any significance to you?"_ Nothing she had gone through could curb her curiosity.

" _Hmm, it does, me and my brother often snuck out at night and swapped around pieces on the stands, removed helmets and placed fake eyes in inside them and Kristoff used a spell that made them wave to passerby's, the staff got really freaked out by that one."_ Elsa remembers that one clearly, poor Kai nearly had a heart attack.

" _I would have loved to see that. I must admit I didn't think of you as mischievous."_

" _I'm not, I swear, I just.. I can't say no to my brother sometimes.. He's really good at making puppy-dog-eyes"_

" _Ew, you eat dog eyes?"_ Anna was disgusted and grimaced at the thought.

" _No silly, it's when you make innocent big eyes, making you look utterly adorable. Some people are better than others at it."_ Elsa couldn't help it, a soft laugh escaped her.

" _Oh..", "what a pretty laugh"_ Anna of course thought she had said the last thing to herself, but that wasn't how their link worked when none of them could control which thoughts got through and which didn't.

" _I.. Thank you.. Did you really think we ate dog eyes?"_ Elsa thanked the spirits Anna couldn't see her blush.

" _Noo.."_ She drawled, extending the word longer than necessary, _"Yeah.. Sorry, I don't really know much about well, anything really, I'm good at fighting, not much else."_

" _You don't need to apologize, I've only caught glimpses, but it seems like you've had a rough start to life"_

" _That's one way to put it…"_

" _Would you maybe want to talk about it?"_

" _Not if I can avoid it"_

" _Be serious here, I genuinely want to help"_

" _I am, and I don't want to talk about it"_

" _Sorry, I won't pry then, just know that I'm always here if you need me"_

" _..thank you.."_

A short silence fell over the two girls, until Elsa decided to break it.

" _So, where is this wolf you valiantly fight beside?"_

" _Not sure to be honest"_ She said out loud as she looked around for the ninth time.

" _Call for it then? I'm sure it wouldn't just leave you behind, that's not what a wolf would do, they never leave the sick or injured behind"_

"Hey, uhm, wolfie, you there?" Anna called out, the walls of the cave created an echo, an echo that disappeared into the dark depths further inside the hollow space, Anna herself was sat close to the entrance where a small amount of light could still reach her. Nothing happened for a good twenty seconds, and then she heard rhythmic thuds getting louder and louder, until the wolf came running in. It's eyes focused on Anna, then it flicked It's gaze upon her leg. It lazily walked towards her and poked her leg with It's wet nose. When Anna didn't cry out it did it again, and then a third time just to be sure. It lifted It's head and tilted it slightly, an unspoken question hung in the air.

Just before Anna could answer she heard Elsa think, _"Oh that's a beautiful wolf"._

Anna smiled at the thought, "Yes my leg is good, for now. I don't have a lot of time with it so we need to get moving right away" She told the Wolf, it still seemed like it was a lot smarter than your average wolf. Or incredibly dumb by following a human, time will tell.

As she made a move to stand the wolf was by her side, providing support once again. She tested the leg by switching her weight back and forth. Once Anna was satisfied she gently moved towards the entrance of the cave. The wolf kept her pace, stopped when she stopped, walked when she walked. Anna then heard the giggling of Elsa, but she didn't understand what Elsa was laughing about. Of course Elsa picked up on her confusion, _"It's acting like a nurturing mother, I wouldn't be surprised if it starts feeding and washing you too",_ Anna froze at the words. She had gone two days without nightmares, but those words just brought it right back.

Elsa was suddenly flooded with images, it was mind-numbing, watching the scenes play out before her, the king and queen doing whatever they could to save their child, only to overrun by the southerner's army. She gasped and covered her gaping mouth with a hand, tears rolled down her cheeks.

" _You weren't supposed to see that.."_ broken, was the prominent word floating around in Elsas head when she heard those words.

" _I'm so, so sorry, no one should.."_ but she got cut off, _"Please get out of my head, I'd like to be alone for a while"_ and Elsa respected her wishes, she parted with a timid _"Of course, I'm sorry"_ , which left Anna alone with her thoughts, and a journey ahead of her. She would steel her resolve, don't cry she told herself, be strong and unstoppable she tried to convince her mind, but the wolf nuzzling into her stomach broke the dam. She threw her arms around It's neck, burying her fingers in It's thick soft fur, and wailed.

A little further east, the two adult men was talking to a tavern keeper, the building was weatherworn, faded paint on the facade, a hole on the right wall where a window was supposed to be had been boarded up, and the wooden chairs and tables had so many small dents and cracks it was surprising they were still in one piece. Robert had gotten some much needed water, Jonas had asked for a couple of items, a bushel of leaves, a few vials of sap extract and something that looked very close to a tongue. Robert sat on the opposite side of Jonas, observing the items in front of him.

"What do you plan on doing with those items?" Roberts hoarse voice hurt, a slight cold had hit him, curtesy of the rain they had walked in for hours.

"Tracking spell, I've been around Anna for long enough to be able to pinpoint her location. But I need something else to complete it. I won't be long, now that we're finally in the east I can get resupplied."

"I take it you know these people? You seemed awfully familiar with the innkeeper."

"Hah, yeah we go way back. He was my neighbor when I was a kid, the southerners took over this land and we were forced to move, our homes was in the way of a stronghold they planned on erecting. Bunch of assholes."

"So we are close to your clan then?"

"Yes, I even got some coin to fetch us a carriage ride to my town. No more walking and supporting me at the same time. But I would like to locate Anna before we leave, I shouldn't worry about her, but these parts of the country aren't the safest.. Still, Anna is strong, she'll get through it."

"As glad as I am about not having to carry you around, I still feel horrible that we just left like that. It's not at all what she needed."

"Listen, she was a wild card from the start, who says she didn't leave voluntarily, ran away from us because she thought we weren't trustworthy? Or maybe she didn't want to go to my clan and finally said ''fuck it, I'm gonna go to my castle"? No matter what my plans are, I won't force her anywhere, she knows we're going east, so in case she didn't do any of the previous things, she'll find us. Either way, I still want her location, if she is captured or held prisoner somewhere then we have to help, if she isn't well then its her choice not to be here with us."

"Woah, that sounds like genuine respect and worry, not the words I would use to describe you"

"I kind of find myself in a position where I actually like her, she proved herself to be stronger than I thought, she handled getting out into the world with only minor discomfort, she's learnt a lot in a short amount of time, and she protected two people who is basically strangers to her. That behavior deserves respect. And yes, I worry too."

"Hmm, I may actually come to like you, even if you are a brutally honest dickhead some times."

"I don't see the point in niceness when the world is as fragile as it is. We need someone who can put their foot down and change it. And I have put my bet on Anna. I've been patiently waiting for a chance like this, and if she is anything like her parents then you know as well as I do that she will do anything to make everything better.. They were good people those Giraldans, but also incredibly gullible. Can you believe that they thought the southerners would lay down arms when they had taken about 90% of the surrounding lands."

"I heard that the Westergaard family sent a messenger to tell them they could stay independent."

"Oh they did. Obviously they didn't let them in the end, but thanks to Wimarcs arrogance he thought a child born from two hybrids would be the perfect subject. And he was correct in his assumption, she turned out stronger, faster and more in control than the rest. Too bad he couldn't control her the way he wanted to, and now she's free to do whatever she wants to. Including tearing this kingdom apart one town at a time."

"Is that what you want from her? Destruction?" Robert asked in disbelief.

"Of course, once we train her the right way she can decimate the southern forces easily."

"I thought she got trained in the hell hole?"

"Sure, she was taught the basics, rune based magic, hybrid magic, internal and external magic, you get the gist right?"

"So she learnt the different kinds of magic application.. Alright, but what do you plan on teaching her then?"

"The true way to use magic, you're a healer you should now all about the different ways to do magic, in fact, I think you know just how difficult it is to grasp new concepts. Most people learn the internal magic by accident or by necessity in a stressful situation, and then they learn to externalize those powers. You however have knowledge on the rune based kind, and if I would take an educated guess, at some point you realized you could tap into it without a catalyst, why you've kept it a secret I don't know, but I know Anna couldn't make the recoveries she did if you hadn't helped her gather magic back in the cage, and when she came back from her personal training sessions." Jonas assumed a lot, but this was the only conclusion on Anna's miraculous and almost immediate healing abilities.

Robert narrowed his eyes and searched for anything that would tell him if Jonas was trustworthy, but he found nothing, he was, as he so eloquently put it, a wildcard. The silence stretched.

"You don't have to tell me anything yet, It's all just speculation. But there is something off about you, no matter how hard you try to hide behind this good guy exterior. So I'll let you come to me whenever you're ready to tell me how you've unlocked the secret to using hybrid type magic…" then more to himself but still out loud, "… this year really is full of new exciting discoveries".

"I can tell you that I'm not at any hybrid level yet, but yes I did help Anna, just not the way you think, and that's all I'm going to reveal at this point. I'm still having doubts about whether to trust you or not."

"Understandable, I might be inclined to think we are more alike than we first thought. Now shall we find our favorite redhead, uhm, well for as long as that is still her prominent hair color." He chuckled to himself.

"Yes let's, what do you need me to do?" Robert was eager to get away from Jonas, he was only half his age, Robert himself being in the mid forties, and Jonas in his early twenties.

"Go fetch me these plants, and I mean the full plants, not just the stem or the leaves.? The young man said as he slid a piece if paper across the table.

"Will do" Robert grumbled as he gave a mock salute.

Jonas shook his head at him.

When Anna rounded the eighth bend in the road she heard some rustling a little ways off the path. She stopped in her tracks and listened closely, then she heard it again followed by a pained moan. She patted the white wolf and pointed towards the sound. It took a couple of whiff's and waggled it's tail. Assuming it was safe to approach the sound she walked around some shrubbery and found a young man with a stab wound just under his ribs on the left side, a hand was pressing on the hole, blood seeping through slowly but steadily. When he noticed her, he pulled forth a dagger that he had concealed in his right boot. Still holding the wound tightly.

"Get away, I won't hesitate to cut you down if you come closer" he growled, which made Anna laugh hard. Stomach hurting thigh slapping laugh.

"You can't be serious, look at the state you're in, you actually think you could take me on?" she managed to say once her laugh had subsided.

"I-I.." he sighed, "Fuck it, you can just stand there and wait until I bleed out, not like I have long to live anyway. Fucking bandits.." he then coughed, spitting out blood afterwards.

Anna felt compelled to help this stranger, it wasn't really a problem. So she focused her magic letting the shine appear in her eyes, a bad move it turns out. The man forgot hiss wounds quickly amd used both feet amd hands to crawl away from her.

"Shit. Stay away witch, just get away from me you fucking freak." He yelled as loud as he could.

"Are you nuts, you're gonna die if I don't fix that hole in your body." She tried to explain.

"I won't let you anywhere near me, you're all fucking sick. I'd rather die from blood loss than be touched by your kind." Venom dripping from every word.

"Alright, how about this. I won't move from here, just sit still and let me see if I can plug the wound." Anna tried again.

"Hell no, I'm gonna get condemned to hell if I accept a demons help."

She scoffed "Is that what they tell you?"

"It's common knowledge. Freak."

"Urgh, you're impossible." She slapped both hands to her face and drug the downwards. Them lofted her icy one and splayed out her fingers, letting a mist of blue and white travel from the tips to the strangers body. It enveloped most of his torso. At first he winced, then he started screaming.

"SHUT UP, I can't concentrate".

"Fuck that, stop!"

Abruptly she stopped, closing her fist and let the remaining magic in the air dissipate, "Fine, go ahead and die here, alone" she twisted on her heel and walked away.

" _I guess if he really doesn't want to be saved I should let him decide for himself right?"_

" _But you have the power to save him"_ Another voice chimed in, and it definitely wasn't Elsa. The voice was higher in tone, and sounded less like a young woman and more like a little girl. Anna knew the voice in any case, she just couldn't put her finger on whose it was.

" _Yes I have, but he didn't want my help, so I'm not going to do that"_ she defended. But there was no response this time. She felt conflicted. Should she help someone who didn't want help? Or is respecting his choices the right thing to do? She stopped and looked back hearing the grunting of the man.

" _Elsa saved me when I just wanted it to end, and I'm glad she did, I got to experience the fresh morning air and the soothing rays of the sunset at night."_ She then turned around and went back to the bleeding man.

"I told you to get away from me demoness." His voices was weak and he spat out a little blood.

"Tough luck, I'm going to help whether you like it or not" she then charged close to him and placed her palm over the wound, icing over the hole. The man reacted immediately, his breathing shuddered at the cold intrusion, but he straightened out his body with only slight discomfort.

The unknown man gave her a quizzical look.

"You're welcome, bye now" and she turned to leave again, but he caught her wrist and turned her around.

"Sorry, it's not common for a hybrid to do something selfless, every other one I've met has been egotistical and cruel, only doing things that would further their own goals. So thank you, I'll let other people know there are still someone out there doing good."

"There are more like me? Wait, who says I'm one of the good ones?" Anna countered

"Your actions just now is big proof." He smirked.

"Yeah yeah, sure, now go on, I need to find my… friends."

"You know where they were headed?" he asked.

"East", not like they ever told her any names for places, she only knew that her home was to the north-west, The Arrendelles lived in the north, and the Westergaardians lived to the south.

"That's.. Vague. Anyway, I can take you to the nearest town, it's a quaint little place just a couple of miles down the road, it's called Ravenbrook, the people aren't the warmest, but I'm sure someone there can use someone with those skills of yours, I don't think I've ever seen anyone move that fast before." He observed her for a couple of seconds, "what's the deal with your hair anyway? Or are you a lot older then you look and your hair is greying or is it related to those eyes of yours? And what about this hand? He took it between his gloves ones and pulled on her fingers, turning it around and scrutinizing it, then he did something that further stunned the already stunned redhead. His tongue darted out and licked her icy hand. She pulled it back in one swift jerk and hid it behind her.

"W-why did you just lick my hand?" she asked in shock.

"I had to see if it was actually ice, it certainly is cold. Tastes like ice to, but I guess ice doesn't taste like much. And you say 'my hand' does that mean you can feel with it? As in did I just lick your finger for real? Oh god you must think I'm some sort of weirdo, I mean I am, but not that kind of weirdo, there are a lot of them out there though, so be careful during night. Wait scratch that, you probably don't need to be careful, you got strength, I can see it in your eyes. Oh this is gonna be fun. Come with me, I want to see what you can do!" he was, enthusiastic, to say the least.

"Uhm, I'm not following, am I a no longer a demon to you or?" she couldn't tell if he was safe to be around, he completely did a 180 on her, calling her names only to talk to her as if he had known her for a long time, spouting questions and being a complete goof, she might come to like this strange man.

"Huh? Oh right I guess I did say some mean things, you see, last time I was helped by a hybrid I ended up loosing my house and job because I was 'indebted' to him for a year before he finally got what he wanted. I wasn't going to risk that again right after I was robbed and lost the last of my gold." He said casually as he inspected his boots and clothing.

Anna still just kept a confused look pointed at him, but the rustle of leaves made her ear twitch and turned towards it, the white wolf came walking with two rabbits caught in It's jaw.

"Oh, food, yay, mind if I join you? I know two rabbits aren't much for all three of us, but I'm really hungry. Pretty please?" And that's when Anna saw the eyes that she had been told about. She understood at that point how Elsa had been roped into the mischievous acts even if she didn't _really_ want to.

"okay, fine, we can split one, my buddy here gets one for herself, she was the one who caught them after all" fairness was important to Anna, it was something she wished she had been shown herself, but nothing about her life had been fair. All the more reason to uphold it she thought.

" _Perhaps that should be my goal, right all the wrongs, make sure everyone is treated equally and fairly. Yeah, that seems simple enough."_

As they ate and travelled Anna learned that this newcomer was named Flynn, 20 years of age, he was a thief as it turned out, which didn't sit right with Anna, because thieves had stolen her from her parents, a long fight ensued where Flynn finally buckled and said he didn't really have a choice, he was an orphan like her, no money no home, a wanderer like Anna. His plans was to go north to Corona, but the last of his money was stolen, and without any, he couldn't buy his way out of this oppressing country. She listened intently as he explained how the gap between rich and poor was so immense that he never stopped stealing but instead of keeping it all, he gave it to the most oppressed people, the magical ones, the people that were even below the poorest, the slaves as it was. He turned out to have a deep sense of morals and he believed his actions were justified, because the slaves deserved freedom just as much as everyone else. And Anna could relate. Freedom was all she ever wanted, now that she had it, she wanted to give it to everyone. Starting with the Ravenbrook town they had arrived at.

"So why the crown of Corona?"

"Well, it's said that the gemstones in it is the magical kind, and that they are the reason the crown princesses powers can heal almost any injury. But since the princess isn't around any longer I want to grab it so it doesn't fall in the wrong hands."

"Well that makes sense, but what if she shows up again? Would you return it then?"

"Probably not, if I'm honest, my plan is to replace the gemstones and sell them to the highest bidder."

"Alright, good luck with that then. Perhaps we'll see each other around?"

"I don't doubt that for a second, you'll do great things in the future. I can feel it. You're passionate, and unwavering in your morals, I think those qualities alone will get you far, but it will certainly make a lot of enemies too. So take ca.. Oh shit" he was about to bid her goodbye and good luck until he noticed the royal horses coming into the town, so he had taken Anna by the wrist and pulled her aside, into a small alley between some buildings.

"Hey! What are y.." a hand clamped over her mouth stopped any more around from escaping.

"Look over there" he jerked his head slightly backwards and the left.

Her eyes followed the direction and saw the golden armored horses, royal horses. Which means they had either caught up to them or they were waiting here. Either way it was bad, Robert and Jonas would either be here or in the neighboring town. And they couldn't be caught, who would take Anna to the men who could fix her if they were gone? Panic. An emotion she knew too well bubbled up, constricting her airways, making her heave for air. Every breath became a struggle, but she had one escape.

" _NO! No more of her, I don't want.. I don't.. I.."_ her eyes fell shut as she passed out.

Robert and Jonas had gotten their hands on a pair of nifty disguises, a cobbler and his assistant, obviously none of them knew how to craft footwear, but it still provided some security to be out of their cloaks and armor and into regular clothing. They were sitting by a secluded table once again to start the tracking spell that would lead them to Anna's location.

"Alright, here's what we're gonna do, you're going to keep an eye on this map and look for small yellow dots, it's not a hundred percent accurate since her magic is probably everywhere between here and the mansion, but it should show us a stronger output from her current location." Jonas explained as he mixed the ingredients, except for the tongue-like object, it wasn't really something you could grind.

The younger man took a deep breath and as he exhaled he closed his eyes. A light shone from the mix and he threw in the tongue. That made the light scatter in tiny rays, and for a second all they did was extend small beams in every direction. After a minute or so, the lights started to bend and point towards the map, but neither of them had expected the image that presented itself. The light was strong in two places, far up north in Arrendelle, and another one was in a town a few miles north of them. But that wasn't the interesting part, all the smaller dots couldn't decide where she had been, they kept changing, switching locations haphazardly until the formed a straight line between the two stronger points.

"Wow, that is.. Extraordinary.. I've never seen a connection this strong before." Jonas said to himself.

"What? What does this mean exactly?" Robert was obviously confused.

"This" he traced the line with a finger, "Is the reason she's been all over the place after we escaped, something happened to her between the mansion burning down and finding her unconscious behind it. Her magic changed as we travelled, I just couldn't figure out why, but this is it. I think I know who gave her the powers over ice and frost." He said with a hint of arrogance.

"Who?" Robert asked perplexed.

"Well none other than the princess of Arrendelle, the queen of ice. Unless her brother suddenly developed some much more powerful abilities than our info tells us about him."

"What? Why would she be down here in the first place? Aren't the north and the south in some perpetual war?"

"Yes, they are, but it's been put on hold because of the increase in mystical creatures in the dark zone between their lands, the southerners are stocking up on weapons and armor, out east in New Asia there are reports of a massive invasion from the sea. Mages have been working double time to hold them back, we fear It's going to happen here too. The Westergaards can't afford to fight both the dark and the north at the same time. Besides, west of the sky mountain, is the only place to freely walk across the borders, but Arrendelle has a massive force field that keeps the south at bay, last I heard they had gathered enough magic crystals to keep it up for another three years."

"That's a lot of crystals. How did they even gather that many?"

"Beats me, they could have figured out a way to extend a crystals lifespan, or learned how to make them themselves. Magic is developing differently all around the planet, there is bound to be different things discovered from place to place."

"Hmm, do you think it's possible that the dark is being ruled by someone or something?"

"Like some dark overlord? There could be, but it would have to be from one of the 'humanlike species' ranks? I've read that werewolves have telepathic abilities. vampires are like ants, uniform in thought. The Succubi is powerful but they usually feed from willing people, not always malicious. Dryads, Elf, Fairies, all a part of the dark but not hostile, my personal belief, we should work together humans and myths alike, hell I'm not sure we can still be called human these days. Then there are the more rare ones, Nephilim, Nymphs, Salamanders, well there are a lot, and anyone of them could be walking around among us, plotting, it's a scary thought"

"Not much to do about it though"

"No, sadly not. If only the king would allow free use of magic, we could create safe cities, water filtering would be faster, food would be cultivated much more efficiently, even our houses would be better isolated from weather, if we don't go so far as to change the weather itself. So many options, but no. The king is a dumbass with too much military power."

"Is that why you do this?"

"Do what?"

"You know, getting Anna to your clan, training her. You want her to tear this country apart won't you?"

"No, well not really, I want her to destroy strongholds, to remove the oppressing force that keeps everyone in line, you haven't lived in the south for that long have you?"

"No, about 4 years, I used to live on a small farm at the outskirts of the Giraldan kingdom. Then I got transferred, I was told to stay put until my services were needed, I didn't have a choice, my family was provided for handsomely. And the rest you know, I broke of course, but my wife is good with money, she saved a bunch of it without me knowing, and it came in handy once she had to run."

"I see."

"Is it truly that bad?"

"It is, not only are they the lowest ranked people in terms of privileges. They get the worst food, the most dingy houses and the least protection, in some parts of the larger cities they are constantly abused and robbed, even killed. It's a horrible place as it is now, and progress on our research is slow. I hope that Anna is willing to help me, if she isn't then I hope she'll at least help us by letting my clan observe her, that way she can help without actually doing anything she doesn't want to"

"Wow, okay, I guess that a pretty good reason to feel the need for change." Robert grimly said.

"I would like to think I have good intentions, my methods are only as drastic as they need to be, nothing more nothing less. I'm ready to do whatever is necessary to save this land from their clutches, I hope you will do the same. Anyway, let's get this show on the road, I'll get the barkeeper to send her a message" Jonas said as he stood from the table clutching a new walking cane Robert had brought him, but before he hoppled over to the bare Robert ask him one last thing.

"How can he send a message to her directly?"

"Magic, a crystal can be used to shape a bird out of magic, it will seek out whoever the caster focuses on. How did you send messages during wartime?"

"Messengers, people you know"

"I guess we can also teach you a thing or two then" Jonas laughed and left Robert alone at the table.

 **Hey. It's been a while. My updates aren't as fast as others, so, sorry about that. I don't have much to say other than, I'm trying to improve and I think I need to tell a bit more about my OC's and their backstory, and I need to tell you more about the way everything looks, what climates there are in the different parts of the world, how the different kingdoms has different styles in terms of buildings and decorations. I read a few other stories and it seems that that is something I'm missing, how the weather is, how tress rustle in the winds. That sort of thing is what I'm going to try to have more of, I heard it gives a better understanding of the story in general.**

 **After everything is said and done, this is still just me practicing and it may end up being a horrible story, but at least its my story, and the next one will be better, and the one after that even more so. I just hope you won't cut the story without telling me why, so I can fix it and improve for the next one**

 **Much love from Mr. Turtle :D**


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